Torture You
by plastik cuffs
Summary: Itachi x OC. Following a recruitment mission, Uchiha Itachi infiltrates the home of two siblings in Kusagakure. Taking the young, avowedly mute brother as leverage, he and Akatsuki plummet the boy's older sister into a horrific dilemma of life or death.
1. words in the dark

**a/n:** So, this fic is more than a bit dated. I started when I was 15, so the first 10 chapters are a bit comma-crazy. Also keep in mind it was started before a lot of these characters were revealed more in-depth. So don't waste your reviews telling me about a misplaced comma or how some characters seem a tad ooc - or even how I had to give Pain a name before Kishi gave us his name. Note that I stick as close to the manga as possible, so until I get the time to clean things up, till about chapter 10 it's amateur.

Thank you!

* * *

"_Stare at the frailty…of the apple eater."_

Every war has a world, and every world has a silent war hidden beneath the thin surface of it's decaying flesh. Though the ninja villages showed immense progress, the truth of it was, a miracle could only bring back the trust and forever thin loyalty.

At that distant island, on a vacant body of water, in the midst of a dreary cave, the virus knitted between the brittle faith of the shinobi world, brought themselves together for an urgent meeting, the subject: severing the seams that held up the grand five countries.

"It has been quite some time since we had such a meeting," began a raspy voice, looping in the static sound of projectors. "As I'm sure you're all aware, Sasori-san is no longer with us."

"No one doubts that. There is now enough sake for me to get drop-dead-drunk every night, hmm," a chortle of laughter caused the cavern walls to echo. Deidara had lost his partner, and he had imagined a bit more grieving from within himself. But bottles of sake just seemed to drown any silly sentiment away.

"Do not sorrow too much Deidara-san, or you might be mistaken for a grieving widow," cooed a third voice. That eerie tone, belonged to no other than the strangest appearing of all the Akatsuki, Zetsu. Whose head was clasped between a large Venus flytrap's green jaws, as if someone had decapitated a domino colored beast and stuck it's head right on a pike between it.

More laughter shook the cave. "Ah, very amusing Zetsu-san, hmm. As if being mistaken for a overgrown weed is any better, hmm?" Deidara wouldn't usually shoot back such a smug, smartass remark to someone as high ranking as Zetsu. Who by far didn't know the meaning of mercy. But since Zetsu and the other Akatsuki members were merely visiting though wires and bytes, the clay master felt nestled in safety.

The laughter soon died down to cackling, as the eerie glow of technological projectile devices flickered from the cave's dampness. To meet out in the open, even a rural teahouse was out of the equation entirely. Though they had meant to keep incognito beneath their sugegasa and only observe from over the brim of their high collars, Akatsuki through word of mouth had spread like wildfire across the shinobi world. So, not one of them could so easily take a seat in a restaurant and discuss important matters as such, so willy nilly. Also, the fact the members were spread thin across the map, meant a physical meeting wouldn't be possible.

"It seems common sense of the situation has evaded you all," the leader of Akatsuki sighed, his projection had slumped in irritated disappointment, but he regained his strict composure with purpose. "With Sasori deceased, it has come to my attention that without him, our chances of accomplishing our goals has significantly slimmed. His intelligence was much use to us, but more so his incredible use of the puppet jutsu and ensnaring agents-" another light flickered within the cave.

"I, question if this is an Akatsuki meeting, or a eulogy for someone who merely hid behind dolls and other loathsome trickery?" inquired Uchiha Itachi, who had enough standing to question the subject matter their leader was proceeding.

"Itachi-san, have you no respect for the dead?" inquired Kisame, whom merely looked to his partner, standing directly to his left in the same haze of shadow. Itachi's impassiveness to grief and any other hindrance of emotion was well known to the rest of the organization.

Deidara snorted, "Itachi-san only has respect for himself and the occasional glimpse he gets when taking to a mirror, hmm?"

Itachi ignored the little remark and merely waited for their leader's response. He greatly doubted that without Sasori, their cause wouldn't meet it's peak. Their numbers were steady, even if Akatsuki was still in a phase of infancy. With that in mind, Itachi's sharingan narrowed to ripe incisions, somewhat impatient at the moment.

Their leader took notice, "since Itachi-san is obviously eager for the next assignment, I will pursue the point more thoroughly," he drew in a breath. "We're lacking in man power, this is nothing new. So, a select few of you will be deployed on recruitment missions."

A sudden silence wiped all expression from the current members. Obvious the last time they recruited, had been some time ago, in times of desperation. "Recruit?" bitterly repeated Deidara, remembering when he was actually brought into the cold embrace of Akatsuki by a lost bet against Uchiha Itachi.

"Remember Deidara-san," began Kisame, as if Deidara was incapable of doing so himself, "your humorous arrangement with Itachi-san about whose art was exceptionally efficient; yours or his own?"

Deidara's hazed form stiffened, those large eyes like festival lamplight had narrowed into kunai slits, "tch!" he spat. "What bullshit that had been, just the mere recollection makes me long for the sense back then, to take Itachi and his parlor magic tricks seriously, hmm!"

"…?" Kisame glanced to Itachi, who was still unobstructed by Deidara's comments.

Well the shark-hybrid himself found some real amusement about that event back then and now, so he gave a hard chuckle, causing his and Itachi's forms to flicker in the cave like a wafting flame. However, a third also recalled that day and wasn't too keen on having to deal with arrogant amateur again.

"Wander aimlessly," Itachi's careless tone sliced the musty air, "through country after country in pursuit of what little talent there is left in this world anymore…tedious _and _irrelevant." Sharingan ablaze as if he were in the flesh, Itachi was not about to be sent on another recruitment mission where all he knew he was going to find, were children with big talk.

Keen to Itachi's unwillingness to pursue candidates for more akatsuki, their leader regained control of the meeting by raising a forestalling hand, "I do understand your point Itachi-san," the other's weren't surprised, their leader always favored the influence of Itachi and it was definitely the other way around. "However," continued the man, gray, concentric circled eyes locked on sharingan, with no sense of fear, "do not make the ill-conceited mistake of believing talent in the shinobi world went clear out the window when we recruited you, Itachi-san…There are other apples out there, ripe, and just as unruly as the rest of you."

In a way, the leader insulted Itachi's significance, comparing him to whatever low level, run of the mill missing-nin were out there. "We have more pressing matters to attend to. Another amateur," Itachi coldly glanced to Deidara, "we do not need at this moment."

Usually Itachi was the most silent at a meeting, so much the leader himself would have to command the kid to speak, or enlighten more on what vague sentences issued from his tight lips. Now however, he was candidly discouraging orders.

"What you think at this point is irrelevant to me, Itachi-san," replied the leader, coolly.

Itachi scowled in that instant, grasping that this pursuit was a waste of his breath. So, with little more than a regretful blink - "Any further detail?"

When order settled and all the other members let go collective sighs, the leader continued. "Indeed," he addressed his fellow Akatsuki in a whole, "We have three rings remaining, counting the one Sasori left behind. Three rings, three candidate clans-"

Deidara coughed in, "Excuse me, but what do the last three rings correspond to, hmm?"

It was true, not even Itachi knew what those last three rings stood for. Of course, the Uchiha was aware of what his ring meant. The gold band, red jewel, with the Kanji referring to his shijin god, Suzaku, was what he wore. Deidara, Zetsu, and Konan wore the other three shijin god bands, while Kisame governed over the southern star ring, and Their leader: zero band.

The leader of Akatsuki decided to point out the files he had sent to three of the Akatsuki. "Information on the rings can wait. The records sent to you are the instructions and statistics we've profited from intelligence, on the clans you will be obtaining from," the noise of sifting papers and grunts of agreement struck the cave with life.

"Wait a second -" Deidara started, but was cut off by the leader.

"Three candidate clans are in three different countries. Kisame-san, you will be traveling to the village hidden in the waterfall," Kisame nodded his head while Itachi's eyes narrowed at his own paper. "Deidara-san, you will be off to the village hidden in the clouds," the blonde clay master grinned broadly, remembering the last time he instigated a little mayhem in the clouds.

Deidara and Kisame exchanged words on the subject of their newly issued assignments, Itachi was excluded from the jabbering.

"Do you think this is humorous, fair punishment for me questioning?" suddenly inquired Itachi, tone inflected by suspicion.

Their leader flickered his attention towards the Uchiha. "Find the mission beneath you, Itachi-san?"

Kisame, with some caution, peered over Itachi's shoulder then, attempting to get a quick hint on exactly what his assignment was. Upon noticing, Itachi became a bit uncomfortable with the over-the-shoulder read, so shrugged Kisame away as calmly as possible.

"Haru: criminal clan, infamous for their underhanded body snatching and abduction of foreign shinobi…" this was ridiculous, and Itachi's dismay progressed, "then completely wiped out under unanimous decision of the kage."

"Itachi-san," the leader took in the Uchiha's scowl, "our informants had else to say."

Lips together, Deidara bit them between his teeth, trying hard not to laugh at Itachi's sad excuse for a mission. To those who knew this clan name, like Deidara, who knew his former kage was in charge of the extermination, was like sending Itachi on a wild goose hunt.

"Come now, the Haru clan met extinction right after Kusagakure handed them over to the Tsuchikage," interrupted Kisame. "There are no more left." Honestly, the leader wasn't the one who would have to deal with Itachi's mind-numbing, unsettling version of the silent treatment once this meeting was adjourned. And to give him a joke mission like this was ridiculous.

The projection that showed their leader flashed a few times, "our informants have yet to be mislead. Itachi-san, you will retrieve the last two remaining members of the Haru clan, as soon as possible. Understood?"

Silence, the disdain had to stew a bit.

"_Hai_," Itachi understood.

"Two hmm?" Well I'll have to bear witness to this myself once I return from Kumogakure, hmm." Deidara gave a wave to the projected forms of his fellow Akatsuki members, before he disappeared in a static mess.

Zetsu somewhat grumbled in dismay, not being assigned a clan, and being cooped up for so long had left him restless. "Why three clans?" he then questioned the leader of Akatsuki, while in that nearly closed Venus flytrap's mouth, Zetsu's monstrous featured head turned with a tense pop.

"Isn't it obvious Zetsu-san?" spoke the leader of the red dawn calmly, "The clans I assigned Deidara, Kisame, and Itachi are known for their kekkei genkai." He watched Zetsu's strange eyes gaze through him, "The Akatsuki has always been about quality, not quantity."

The words of the head terrorist, intrigued Itachi. Quality, over quantity? Yes, that did make absolute perfect sense. The Uchiha himself, had to go through rigorous tests to join the terrorist organization. Strange, since when did a written test say you were a criminal?

Pondering that for a while as the leader of the red dawn went on, Itachi remembered he joined the Akatsuki at merely the Jounin level. After spending a few years in the Akatsuki, he had obtained the highest rank known for a missing-nin, S-class, Kage standards really.

Kisame looked to his partner, and saw the Uchiha's eyes were staring to his papers resentfully. "Itachi-san," Kisame cautiously began.

"What is it?" Itachi put his fierce, scrutinizing stare on the shark-hybrid.

"Shall I ask if it could be possible for us to switch assignments? Since it seems, you would rather not waste your valuable time on such a wild goose chase," Kisame hoped for a simple nod of Itachi's head, agreeing to the switch. But all he got was a dirty scowl.

"Kisame-san, do not insult my abilities," he sighed. After another taut second, the Uchiha veered his dangerous stare back to the papers, as if debating the authenticity of his orders. Were there still members of that clan left alive in Kusagakure? The circumstance of their supposed extinction more than hinted the bloodline's entire demise…but intelligence said different."…ridiculous," he muttered. Before wheeling around in a show of black and red, leaving Kisame's hazy form in the electrical pulsing presence of the leader and Zetsu.

And like Deidara and Itachi, Kisame's projection dispersed in a static, no trace was left but the low murmur of voices outside this cave in the Rain Village.


	2. kusagakure

_"Hear the silence of mental instability within the soft of youth…"_

Autumn: the one time of the year in which death is so welcomed, only because rebirth is imminent. Ensnared within the twisted auburn tendrils of a summer's end, between deciduous defiant trees slanted in perplexed trend, Kusagakure nestled knowing no dormancy.

During any season or time of day, plant life out numbered human life. Those lofty green grass fields, mangrove swamps, and cycads amongst heaven sought pines of black and red bestowed The Village Hidden In the Grass a rather enchanted quality. So knotted in dense vegetation, it's whereabouts were scarcely known, this virtually impenetrable village. Unless one was guided by a well-skilled native who actually experienced the outside world and possessed some concern for what was beyond the borders.

Multiple buildings ranging from government, to tea houses, to a old butcher shop at a corner street, lined a single market place that was gray from it's mossy cobblestone road to the bloated newspapers on stands with sunk-in cloth roofs. A recent rain had fallen and every faceless shopper had their hoods or umbrellas propped up to protect their shopping bags from the clouds once again swollen dark.

Away from this quiet area, secluded behind the only ten-foot stone walls was a seemingly vacant compound of suburban homes. Built in the same fashion, each yard with it's single tree and extinguished lamp post, this forgotten area was nearly as quiet as a cemetery. However the faint pitter-patter of drainpipes made sound on the rooftops of the only home not built in a similar fashion as all the rest. Planted on the outskirts of this dead compound with it's impeccable cleanliness and alluring old shrine just barely next door, was the Head House.

Within the home, a boy no older than thirteen-years-of-age shoveled knot after knot of boiled udon noodle into his mouth, puffing out his cheeks with no regards to the fact that the more his chopsticks bundled, the more he resembled a gluttonous hamster on the verge of a rather loud, messy pop.

Across the table which the boy knelt before, his older sister in her chihaya and red hakama, who by the looks of her jaw hanging as if were unhinged, held up her own chopsticks; udon that had gone cold from the pause dripped before her bewildered expression. Kouji had such a aggressive appetite.

"_Yare, yare_…" she muttered, with a shake of her head. After a moment, she slurped up her own noodles, but cringed at how cold they had gotten. "_Oi_, do you plan on breathing, or at least taking the time to taste the effort I put into those?" she queried.

Surely if he inhaled one more bowl like that, even she would be sick.

In that moments it took for his older sister who was just as dark-haired, pale-skinned, and brown-eyed as him to question, Kouji's plate was cleaned. He wiped a droplet of broth from his thin, small lips with a cloth napkin then picked up a cup of steaming hot tea. Exactly in the same inhaling fashion as the udon intake, the tea had no chance as he tilted the cup back and washed his supper all down.

Obviously the food was not weighing Kouji inoperative cause he silently stood up and hastily walked towards the front door.

"Hey, where on earth do you think you're headed?" His sister then asked, dark eyebrows furrowed in suspicion.

"…." Kouji had paused, only to look back at her from the corner of his eye. He had heard a demanding concern in her voice which meant very little to him except that once again his sister took fast to being a obstacle in his pursuits.

"I think," the girl stood up, full-cup of tea in hand, "you should stay in. It's already 7 p.m."

Leaving the table, Kouji's sister sauntered over to him. With a gentle hand on his shoulder, she rounded to face him. "Look at you…Just because those cuts and bruises heal, certainly doesn't mean when they're fresh, they go unnoticed by me." Her thumb swept across near his eye, when it closed, she smoothed over his eyelid.

"…." Kouji was indifferent to her concern.

When the pressure of her thumb eased off, Kouji's large brown eyes peered over her shoulder, looking onward into the grayness of the autumn evening. He could hear the soft hum of laughter coming from the square of the village, which he so longed to wander through and wander back home unharmed. So the other genin made it their prime concern to give him a hard time, he felt like if they got to know him a bit better, realize he could take a good hit, they would eventually accept him.

She took notice of her little brother's eyes that wandered to what laid behind her and out their dining room doors. Unlike Kouji, his sister didn't see how he could even want to leave the sanctuary of their family compound. So they were alone, no aunts, uncles, cousins, or parents. But at least they had each other. The village could provide them no more embrace than they did the night their bloodline went thread thin.

A memory had her zone out. Once she came too again, her grip on Kouji's shoulder increased a bit. "Come on, stay inside with me…I mean…" a sudden smile was a little hesitant, "you could help me sweep out the shrine? Those leaves are just everywhere and last time I tried to do it by myself, the wind just swept them back in. Or maybe help me hang up those chimes?"

"…." Kouji continued to look passed her.

"Otouto!" she snapped her third and thumb, before taking hold of his chin to steer his focus her way. "_Anone_. It's already seven p.m. and about to rain again. There isn't a good enough reason for you to be out late in bad weather." She was attempting to reason with him calmly. Though it never proved to work in the past.

Face suddenly gone sour, Kouji crisply slapped her hand away. That was his clear response to her concern. He wanted to go outside, plain and simple.

"_Tch_," eyebrows furrowed, she rubbed the back of her hand before retaliating. "What did I tell you about that? I'm not going to tolerate you pushing, shoving, and slapping me when you're trying to get a point across! Besides…" she shot him a regrettable cold scowl, "they've been dead for so long, you should be talking by now!"

Kouji's lips thinned, and his blood boiled. With a glance to the cup in his sister's hand, he followed it up by knocking it right out of her grasp. The tea cup shattered onto the floor, casting white little shards everywhere in a thin pool of steaming ginger tea.

He made to walk away again, however was suddenly caught by the wrist in his sister's vice grip. "I said you're staying inside!" she shouted, now in a struggle with her little brother. He kept pushing her hands off so bent on getting out the door.

Why couldn't he just listen to her for once? She only had his best concerns in mind. "Kouji -- _err_!" And in that moment, impatient and upset, Kouji actually bit down on her hand. "Enough!" she cried in pain.

Kouji was suddenly launched across the dining room, his sister had backhanded him when he hadn't lessened the skin splitting pressure of his bite. The thirteen-year-old cluttered onto the wooden floor of their dinning room. When he came to his senses, Kouji stood up and ran right out of the house. She was about to chase after him, however came to a stop instead between the ajar sliding doors that lead out to a portion of the entire deck that surrounded this home.

"Fine!" she exclaimed to his shrinking form, making it's way off of the estate. "Just get out of my sight -- see if I care!"

The anger she felt right now, what she nearly always felt with Kouji, had to be vented. So she picked up the dishes, put them in a sink half-empty with warm, soapy water and washed.

As evening gloom evolved to contagious darkness, the girl began her usual scrubbing. The quietness of the home indicated that her and Kouji were in fact parentless. Of course she had quickly became accustomed to taking on motherly duties along with her shrine priestess duties. But Kouji, he was not nearly well enough to take on man duties. Obvious by the fact he had gone mute the day after that fateful night.

With a steady train of thought going, she finished more than half of the dishes, wiped the counters clean of oil, and swept up any dirt that crept under the front door. This evening was going no different than the countless others before.

The sky gave a sudden quake then, thunder rolled ruthlessly in the sky splotched with bruised clouds. Following the drum roll came the hard downpour that swept across their stone front yard.

"_Huh_…" she exhaled heavily, peering out the window over the kitchen sink to the rain, while wearing a regretful expression. Yes, this evening really was no different than all the others.

Still staring to the thick raindrops, she realized she couldn't just let Kouji wander around in this weather. She could never be their mother, but she wasn't about to let Kusagakure believe she was a irresponsible older sister. So she placed her drying rag down and located those chimes she had meant to hang up at the shrine. Slowly making her way to the front door, she pressed the screen open and stepped over the threshold. "Kouji?"

No response. Of course not. However if there was one, the hard beating rain deafened it. With a momentary observance of the front yard, the elder child made her way off the front yard. Over muddy grass, through a creaky wooden gate, and ascending the slippery stone steps of the shrine to take refuge beneath the ruffled roof, there was still no sign of her little brother.

Just then, her heart-beat began to race -- where was he? "This isn't funny Kouji! Come out, right now!" she demanded, stomping a geta-wearing foot onto the shrine deck.

A chilling thought surfaced as her chihaya's slightly damp top brushed against her bare flesh -- 'what if those genin seriously harmed him this time?' Her stomach sank. "KOUJI!" she shouted with more urgency.

"Your brother is mute, why expect an answer?"

The priestess stopped, frozen by a reply that she knew was _not _from her brother. The voice sounded cold, malevolent…close by. In a whirl of white and red fabrics, she turned her body around. With a cold gasp she had discovered the shadow of a man lurking a few feet from her. How had she not heard him creep up on her?

"Who -- who are you?" she demanded, in a stutter. "Excuse me, but the shrine is closed sir…so please…"

The stranger stepped forward, revealing himself to this startled priestess. "I have no intentions of praying," he stated.

With receding shadow, a flash of lightening that had streaked across the skies above Kusagakure illuminated the man and the priestess found her voice as Kouji's form also came into view. Her young brother was being dragged by the collar of his shirt forward; the stranger's fingers entwined in the cloth. Kouji's face was badly battered and fresh blood clung to the innards of his nostrils.

"Kouji!" she exclaimed in rage.

Her younger brother's head lulled weakly between his shoulders, he only gave her a whimper of reply before the man turned him around with a rough jerk.

She made to dash forward but her fear made itself known in the heaviness of her feet, in the thick drops of sweat slicking above her brow. Wide-eyed, bottom teeth clattering against the top like shaken glass, she recoiled back against the railing of the shrine's deck and the chimes she had been holding clanged to the floor. She watched in silence as her brother's head ceased to swivel when he got a glance up at the man's face, shrouded from her view by a conical hat.

In that instant her brother stared up, he was stricken unconscious and fell limp in the stranger's tight grasp.

"Wh-what have you done to him?" she brayed.

The stranger's attention mechanically switched back to her. He stood tall in a black cloak with red printed clouds, his pallid purple sandals peeked out from beneath it's drape as he closed in on her, dragging Kouji like a game animal.

Air seemed so thin, it was tough to grasp and her lungs screamed in stress as she stared on with fear. It was cold, the realization that crept over her. This stranger was a shinobi, a foreign shinobi sent to kill what remained of her family.

Hands blindly grasping for the shrine's railing, the man closed in so fast on her she shrieked with nowhere to go.

"Getaway from me!"

A pale hand struck out from beneath the stranger's broad sleeve. The man's palm was warm around her throat, it's tight squeeze punished her airway for making such a racket one would think a hen house was infiltrated instead of a shinobi compound.

The priestess' eyes bulged in her sockets as the stranger's fingers clasped tighter. Unable to scream as he yanked her forward, she instead gawked now witnessing the man's face. Shade from his sugegasa kept his identity near obscured, but beneath it's influence she went over his weathered features.

A smooth pale face curtained by chin-length black hair, a struck through leaf hitai-ate, and the most horrifying pair of eyes she had ever came to stare into -- Sharingan. So red, so penetrating her soul was alit inside her belly and writhed in cowardice.

The stranger's thin lips pressed in on eachother with a scowl before addressing the girl, "tell me your name," he demanded.

"…!" she grimaced in his tight hold.

"Humph," he loosened his choking grasp for her to proceed.

The girl inhaled fresh breath never so thankful to breathe. "Huf…huf-" Death's muzzle was so close, she felt it's warm fragrant breath blow near her own face. It asked her name. "H-Haru Kanna," she replied, now trembling at the sight of her brother half discarded on the shrine deck.

"Haru Kanna," the stranger repeated, without a waft of emotion. He seemed to incline his head to himself in a affirming nod. "I am Uchiha Itachi, and Akatsuki requests I acquire you."

Kanna gawked. "Uchiha...Itachi?"

Still locked in his eyes, she should have turned away. In fact, she knew to but was unable. Three tomoe encircled his pupils and they started to spin. How were they spinning, she remembered herself thinking before all the lights went out…

The cold rain on her face, a uncomfortable toss over the stranger's shoulder…

Not even a proper farewell to their home.


	3. the cellar

_"Witness the subtle signs of upcoming chaos…"_

Sweat practically overflowed from the hands of a rock shinobi informant as he made his way to the headquarters of his village. 'There wasn't anything we could do -- we were out numbered!' Over and over lines of apologies, pleas, and excuses did laps in his head. Yet none so far sounded quite convincing enough to promise a clean getaway.

Departing from the rows of stone houses and busy streets, the shinobi exiled himself out to a large sloping circular rock formation many miles outside the ruckus of the Hidden Rock. It must have been a few miles both deep and wide; where he needed to go was beneath the surface.

Passing under an arc he waved away some of his fellow shinobi till he found his feet firmly planted on a metal platform behind an armor plated door. "Level nine," he said, to no on particular. But someone had to be listening, cause the platform gave a few violent shakes before it started to descend.

Level 1, level 2, level 3...His heart beat was erratic, beating against the inside of his ribcage like a hollowed drum. "I tied to persuaded them on sir, but we were outnumbered?" Indeed, now his best hope would be to lie.

As the elevator came to a jerking halt the shinobi felt his knees weak like the worn gears. The doors creaked open lazily to allow him to begin his wobble on. Down a long empty hall of doors, he realized how much he hated this walk. It gave one time to go over what was ahead, what was behind that door at the very end.

"Tsuchikage-sama," the jounin lightly tapped the final wooden door of the hall with his sweaty scarred knuckles, "this is Kino, home from being stationed in Kusagakure." Silence met his ears. "I - I…uh, have urgent news."

"Enter," then boomed a gritty, rough voice.

Kino pressed the door open with his toe and entered the Earth Shadow's office. It was alarming how the cleanliness reminded one of what a hospital looked like inside. White walls, no pictures except for one atop the Tsuchikage's desk. Only archaic, weathered weapons and glass sculptures in a lone glass shelf were present to greet visitors.

Kino stood up straight in attention. "I'm honored to once again be in the Tsuchikage's presence," he bowed low -- _very _low.

"What urgent news is there from the Grass country, Kino?" acknowledged the shadow. Only the back of his chair did Kino at first see of his kage; that, and the top of his head.

The jounin trembled, he felt like a ball of nerves. "News, ah yes…well," His voice cracked, as if puberty just now hit him. "Well, Haru Kanna has been abducted Tsuchikage-sama…"

Eyes intent on the top of the Tsuchikage's head, Kino saw it tilt just a bit as he waited for a reply.

"And the boy?" the Tsuchikage pressed softly.

Kino bit down on his lip, "g-gone, taken as well Tsuchikage-sama."

A sudden earthquake had Kino jump out of his skin. The office rattled and somehow the Tsuchikage's long shelf of trinkets kept everything in place. Kino made note to remember for the thousandth time, his fellow rock shinobi were training down in the shafts below the Earth Kage's office.

In his mind, the Tsuchikage went over the fresh news. "I see…" he muttered, before taking an abrupt stance that had his informant jump back.

When the Tsuchikage stood up, Kino was reminded how very large a man he was. At least three heads taller than him, broad shoulders that could catch the frame of a door, and limbs thick as tree trunks. With fiercely chiseled features, the Tsuchikage loomed in on Kino as if attempting to feel the cowardice or smell it radiating from him.

"Ah Kino, I had such faith in you…" he grumbled, in a voice fit for a lazing bear.

Kino with a smaller stature attempted to back away, apology written all over his face. "Please Tsuchikage-sama, l-let me at least explain --!"

A monstrous roar over took Kino's voice. The Tsuchikage seemed to swell with such a rage his body appeared even more enormous. "I left you in charge of that unit for one purpose -- one single purpose Kino!"

The walls of the office continued to rattle, but the question was did they rattle from the earth quaking jutsu downstairs or from the Tsuchikage's sudden rage?

Kino nearly fell back, but regained himself in time to witness the Kage's quick advance.

"We…I kept them back my lord!" the confession shot from him in a timid scream. In complete and utter fright before the bellowing Tsuchikage inches from him, Kino bowed and exposed the back of his neck. He shouted his reasons to the floor- "Please! Tsuchikage-sama the perpetrator was none other than Uchiha Itachi -- you must see my reasons!" Kino felt as if he would shrivel. "I was only thinking of my men, so sorry -- forgive me!"

Like a rabid beast after a chase, the Tsuchikage stood stiff, his massive chest expanding with every wrathful breath. He stared to the back of Kino's neck, knowing if he hadn't calmed himself he would have hacked right through him. "Akatsuki," he suddenly hissed. "Stand up straight Kino!"

Better than a well-trained canine, Kino did as he was commanded then barked- "Orders, Tsuchikage-sama."

It seemed all of the jounin's groveling and apologies saved his life today. The Tsuchikage went over to a gray file cabinet. "Before you came to me, there had been recent reports of Akatsuki activity in two other countries. I want you and your men to find the boy and bring him back here to me _alive_…" His thick finger pinched a file then removed it from it's cabinet.

"And Haru Kanna?" Kino inquired.

Without even a second thought, the Tsuchikage tossed Kino the file - "Exterminate her. Now that she's in the hands of Akatsuki, there is no doubt in my mind they will use her as another weapon. We cannot allow them to retain her, or else more ill tidings will find their way to our doorstep, Kino."

--

At first she wondered if her time had finally come and before her death she witnessed the red fires of hell. Narrowed caverns into the underworld had stared directly at her, then all consciousness escaped. Had she died? No…

Kanna was still alive, there was no doubt in her mind that the pain she was feeling was far too close to be an out of body experience. What was rather disturbing though about this pain was that it wasn't her body that hurt, it was her eyes…they stung like hot coals had been pressed up against the lids. 'Open you eyes…where am I?'

At last able to flip her eyelids back, they only met more darkness. With a few seconds of determining she wasn't blind and that she was just somewhere without windows, her other senses began to scan the space around.

_Drip…drip…drip_….The sound of the water bounced off of four bare walls; there were pipes above her. Deeply breathing in through her nose the grounded priestess caught the strong odor of mildew and rotten produce. A cellar?

'I can't move my hands or legs…I can't even scream!' A sensation had her limbs tingling. Ropes bound her wrists and ankles, the burn was irritating with the pressure of the well tied knots as she laid on her belly like a sea lion. "Mhmm!" Was all Kanna was able to utter gagged by a saliva drenched cloth. 'That man…with those eyes…what did he do to me?'

Kanna chewed down on the cloth in her mouth until she was able to poke it out with her tongue. For what seemed like hours she laid there on her belly motionless, listening for any indication that Kouji her younger brother was still alive.

Suddenly a bright light lip up the entire cellar. However as soon as it was granted the light disappeared leaving only a mere sliver before her face, giving her a real nice view of the dirty floor. 'Someone else is in here…but who?' she pondered.

Brown eyes strained to digest more glow. Something crept towards her.

Before the sliver of light, a spider paused in Kanna's view. It was large, brown, hairy, and interested. Kanna's eyes went wide with disgust as she tried to roll her body away from the horrid little arachnid before it got too close.

Cries choked, then like a answer from god a foot penetrated the darkness and landed atop the pest with a loud crunch. Exoskeleton crushed, she looked away from what remained just as a familiar cold, emotionless voice pressed through the murky atmosphere of the cellar.

"Good, you're conscious."

So after all that, the leader of Akatsuki was in fact right about the organizations informants. They were always right.

The Uchiha coldly peered down at the girl who glared back up at him with fierce hatred. With a lazy hand he raised it above his head and curved his fingers around a string to pull it down with a crisp _click_. Light illuminated the entire cellar once again, causing Kanna to squint and turn her cheek to the dirty floor.

"Sit up," he ordered. Itachi advanced in on Kanna, knelt, then extent his hands out towards her.

"Don't you dare touch me!" Kanna retorted, while attempting to squirm away from the man's hands. Yet, to no avail. The binds on her feet and hands compelled her to his dark presence. "I don't want your filthy skin on me!"

He glowered in her direction before regaining his composure. Itachi scowled so deeply at her rude behavior. "Fine, stay down here," sharingan narrowed into those thin caverns of the underworld, "the spiders and rats could do with some company."

He turned to leave.

"Ah -- no please, wait!" Kanna protested.

Not feeling all too magnanimous this evening, Itachi sauntered back to the girl who laid on the ground as if she were a sack of vegetables. "Sit up," he deadpanned.

Kanna obeyed this time without fuss. Up on her elbows, she pushed her body up to a crooked sitting position and waited for him to untie her.

He sat on the balls of his feet as he put his hands behind Kanna's back. Untying her binds he heard her sigh in relief, the itching and burning of the ropes had been alleviated.

With her hands free now, she rubbed her wrists gingerly and cautiously watched him step back. She didn't waste anymore time, "where is my brother?" the Haru demanded.

Itachi made to turn away, not about to yield to her.

"No -- I asked you a question: tell me where my brother is!" If she wasn't so scared she'd grab him by the sleeve and demand right in his face.

The Uchiha paused at the bottom of the stairs that lead up from the cellar. A twinge between his brows was starting, the girl ignited a headache. "Incredible," he coldly began, "you're already getting on my nerves." Sharingan glared from behind a screen of black bangs. "It is obvious you are unaware of my abilities. So, let me impart a word to the unwise…"

She found her lips tight, that glare instantly stapled them shut as soon as it was shot in her direction.

"If you continue to be an ignorant child and bray like an ass, I'll be happy to demonstrate my technique of dealing with such annoyances."

"…," Kanna gawked, her mouth had run dry of words at the sight of the full-view of her situation. On her knees in the dirty cellar, she sheepishly smoothed out her hakama.

Itachi took notice of her meek obedience and his brows tucked in. "A criminal in a priestess costume, how amusing," he snickered, then ascent the stairwell.

* * *

a/n: all right, so far i went back and cleaned up chapter 1 through this. o.O Ugh going back on my first chapters is horrible, just cause they were so short and rough. Lol Anyway for those just tuning in the name **Rei** might pop up, that's basically the name I gave Pein in the beginning before I knew his real name. So don't mind that, I'll fix it all soon :D


	4. rules & consequences

_"I am Uchiha Itachi, and you're requested in the presence of the Akatsuki…"_

The Konoha missing-nin, ascended the stairs followed by his intimidating shadow, till both of them disappeared behind the cellar door. He had left Kanna standing at the bottom of the stairwell, alone with her horrid thoughts. What had Itachi done with her brother… was Kouji alive, or smote on the side of a cliff somewhere? If he was alive, where, with whom, and did he miss his sister and worry for her as much as she worried for him?

Making his way through the door that lead to the cellar, Itachi's eyes adjusted to the brightness of the manor lamps. Their leader had especially sent one of his many subordinates, to obtain this estate and manor deep in the midst of Earth country, just for the Uchiha and Haru. "What a burden," Itachi mocked the leader of Akatsuki.

Since Itachi had achieved S-rank missing ninja, he began to question, why he even bothered with the Akatsuki. Doing their dirty work, under the rule of someone as ignorant and inexplicable as him. Itachi was sick of being associated with mere terrorists who considered themselves his equals. They were nothing but a insult to him.

Just about to start down the hall that lead to the manor courtyard, Itachi paused, "So, did you decide that you favor my company more than that of a rat's?"

Kanna's heart skipped a beat when he acknowledged her presence so unexpectedly. For a good three minutes, her eyes had been buried in the back of his head, wondering why he was just standing there motionless, gazing into a wall. Uchiha Itachi, she knew his story. And if she had recognized him back at the shrine, the priestess wouldn't have allowed herself to look into those eyes.

"What do you want with me?" she asked.

"I personally don't want anything from you, but your cooperation and loyalties to this organization. Let me express that you would make it much easier for me, if you just do what you're told, and keep quiet while doing it," was Itachi's vague reply.

She stood baffled, what was he talking about? No - he hadn't brought her to _wherever this was_, in hopes that she would agree to be apart of some organization? "What are you talking about?" she cried.

To Kanna's horror, Itachi veered around in a display of black and red. It was obvious to him, that she just wasn't getting the picture, and he found it rather annoying when he had to explain himself, let alone, be dropped into some mission where he had to train new Akatsuki members.

"You, along with two other candidates, were selected to be in the top nine ranking Akatsuki members, simply because of your special jutsu," He explained in a irritated, acid tone of voice. Staring at the girl, he finally was able to take in the details of her appearance.

The red and white attire she wore, was common for any shrine maiden. But it was her marble white skin, and other innocent features that pulled the look off. A heart-shaped face curtained by straight, long black hair, and soft brown eyes that bore into the floor…well, she wasn't an eye sore at least.

Being so apprehensive to Itachi's stare, Kanna didn't dare to glance up at him as she so bluntly corrected him. "Well, you were misinformed Itachi-san," she hissed. "Because I am no kunoichi!" her conversation with the floor was cut short, when Itachi suddenly moved towards her, causing Kanna to back up quickly, frightened that he might strike her.

"Stay away from me!" Arms immediately going up to shield her face, a brief hope for more hall to backup into, faded away as her back stiffened against a wall.

"Do you take me for a fool, Kanna-san?" Itachi expressed calmly as he boxed her in, by firmly planting his palms against the wooden wall behind her shoulders, "You may dress like a priestess, act like a priestess, and hold yourself like one…" His hand reached for her face, and Kanna's eyes tightly shut, waiting for the impending blow.

Nothing…until…a gentle sensation on Kanna's bottom lip, caused her blood to run hot. Itachi had indolently raised a finger, to only brush away a rebellious strand of hair from her lips. And though his face was right in front of hers, so close, she could feel his warm breath fanning out; Kanna didn't open her eyes.

"…look at me, you know you want to…" His words were like acid, burning into her sanity. Temptation of the eyes whispered to Kanna and she couldn't take it anymore. The priestess gave into the hypnotic suggestion, and her eyes fluttered open, only to convene with Uchiha Itachi's sensual glare.

Breath becoming flighty, the priestess realized the size difference between the man's frame, and her own. The longer she stared into his eyes, got in the details of his body, she came to the conclusion that he was dangerously attractive.

"I can sense, Kanna-san…" Itachi drew in the air between them, "That you're the kunoichi I was assigned to acquire."

That face and those eyes were the most elegant danger. "Please, I am no kunoichi, you were misinformed Itachi-san," This bastard had her pinned up against a wall, he was up in her face, and insulted because she was informing him about being misinformed. 'But he's right, he's right!' Kanna inwardly screamed. Shacking her head fearfully, he then withdrew.

"I cannot promise your brother's safety, if you keep lying to me," hissed Itachi.

The priestess looked up to the Uchiha, and could not locate a flicker of emotion. It seemed, he was completely impassive to her agony right now. "My brother…" Kanna took her back from the wall, trying to gain just a ounce of dignity back. "Tell me, is he nothing but a hostage now?" She felt her eyes swell up with tears, and they threatened to spill over, if Itachi didn't yield.

"You will either leave this manor in a Akatsuki cloak, with you pledge of loyalty spoken. Or, as a corpse, off to unite with your brother who will in addition, die if you carry on with this imprudent priestess act," It was obvious to Itachi, that this girl didn't like to be ordered around, and thought of as lowly. Just the fact that he was doubting her little performance, was seriously starting to bother her.

She stood there, her eyes puffy, limbs shaking with stress and confusion. "You have no right to keep me here, away from my brother! No goddamn right at all!" Kanna's true personality, showed Itachi that his theory was correct. He had backed Kanna into a corner, and was threatening to take away all her freedom, and…her little brother.

There was a strong burning of anger in her chest, and that animosity threatened to pulse through the rest of her limbs. A hate once feared, she knew how it felt to be in Itachi's position, and she loathed the fact he could enjoy it while she suffered. "I despise scum like you!" Kanna screamed.

"Then despise yourself," he spat back.

"You bastard," the girl in doubt, felt tears pour over, as her fists balled up, tightened, and let a chain sound of crackling be heard. Indeed, the Uchiha had intended to get Kanna angry, and was expecting a result such as the one being displayed in front of him. But Itachi hadn't realized how easily she got under _his_ skin.

"This subject of conversation, is over," Itachi affirmed severely.

"…," Haru Kanna , said nothing, she just merely turned her head away, allowing the fine strands of black silken hair, to hide any details of what emotion her face was presenting. She felt shameful allowing that beast to see her cry, frustrated because of his words.

Standing before a weeping woman, Itachi's expressionless mask didn't change, he only watched with slight interest. Had he forgotten how easy it was, to make a woman cry? Turning on his left heel, Itachi was about to leave the girl blubbering to herself. Yet, he found his feet a bit too heavy.

"You will be sleeping in the room adjacent to my own," Itachi began. "We will be here together, for quite sometime. So, I will be enforcing some rules," the young woman, didn't like where this was going.

"First, you are not to step a foot off of this estate without my knowing. If you even attempt to escape, I will know, and I will kill you. Second, I want my orders obeyed. There will be severe consequences if they are not. Third, try your best to avoid being too ignorant-"

"I am not ignorant-" Kanna began to protest, but was cut off as the back of Itachi's cold hand struck across her cheek. The blow was not meant to hurt much, but it sent a clear message of warning, like that of a whip used on a circus animal.

"At the moment Haru, you are Akatsuki property, whether you enjoy that or not," Itachi stated firmly. "Do not give me a reason to seriously harm you next time. Because, it would be a shame to bruise such a pretty face as yours," Itachi finished the sentence softly.

Had he just complemented her? Yes, he had, in a rather twisted sort of way. Watching Itachi's form disappear behind rice paper-patched doors, Kanna began to question the events that just happened. From the complement, slap across the face, and of course to the pinning on the wall. The events had left her confused, angry, frustrated, scared, and strangely light headed.

The severe danger of her situation had not yet diluted from the moment she found herself in the cellar. There was only the fresh knowledge if she did not cooperate with Itachi and the Akatsuki, she and Kouji, would lose their lives.

All she had left in the world, was her younger brother. Kanna had given everything up for him, tossing out all that was comfortable to her, in hopes they could lead a normal life. That normal life never happened, and now the Akatsuki sealed the deal of no normality for the remaining Haru clan.

* * *

A/N: Wow…its weird going back on my writing. So yeah, I'm cleaning these chapters up slowly. Don't mind the thesaurus raping in the future, or characters such as the Akatsuki leader with the name "Rei". I started this fanfic a very long time ago XD


	5. kegare

_"Come one, come all, witness the fall…"_

In the subconscious of any woman, you'll be greeted by the twisted desires of a creature with more than a gods set of arsenal. To give birth to those who rape the lands clean, and to shape them into a perfect pawn of war. A gift of death to conceal so much madness behind a façade of nurturing…no one would suspect the quiet girl at the back of the room. Gift of rebirth to do it all over again. Women, can tame the most ferocious of beasts by overpowering them with their own inherent wrath.

She twisted, turned, writhed as a dream pulsed through her mind. Playing over, and over…again-

"LEAVE NONE ALIVE - show no mercy!" Came a battle cry from over the distance of blood red fields. In under an hour, the Village Hidden In the Grass, had been completely invaded and set on lockdown. But it didn't matter, homes were ripped and tossed open by ferocious Ninjutsu, while shinobi rolled across the rain soaked streets trapped in their own minds by godless Genjutsu.

Under the direct orders of the Tsuchikage, the elite Kegare Squad of Kusagakure, were to be annihilated along with the rest of their horrid clan. Charged with war crimes, murder, unauthorized body snatching of rival shinobi, and illegally conducting experiments on rival shinobi, the Haru clan had to be punished for their greed.

A squad of five rock shinobi were gathered at the corner of a torn and battered street. Pavement chunks and slices of homes littered across the ground as they tossed back tactics and ill tidings. "I'm completely out, we need more!" shouted one of them.

"There are so few of them, and so many of us - how?" shouted a second.

"Silence, you'll give away our position!" the leader of the group harshly whispered. His men had been shaken up by a few rumors, and trickery of the Grass Lands.

"Inikiri-san, we won't be able to last!" A kunoichi had crawled out from the shadow of her squad commander, bruises scattered across her body.

"Wait - do you hear that?" The fog seemed to get heavier as the moon's girth expanded with oncoming nightfall. With no orders from headquarters to leave their position, the rock shinobi were stuck.

Silence, eerie quietness that came after a massacre… demon prints on the water slicked roads. All five rock shinobi stood absolutely still, ears straining for the tiniest sound, bodies shaking from being over warred. "You're being too paranoid, all of you," snort the commander. "We have those monsters on the-"

All too suddenly, death had caressed them to her busty shadow.

There was the ugly, agonizing sound of tearing tissue, ripping tendons, ligaments snapping, and fat being scooted up against inner fleshy walls, as the native grass style penetrated into the thick frame of the squad leader. "Monsters," snarled a feminine voice, from seemingly everywhere. "Once again, you've underestimated us!"

The rock shinobi gaped in absolute horror and disbelief as they took in the details of Inikiri. He was still standing, but his upper body was heaved over, retching and gurgling sickly. Frozen in absolute fear, the rock shinobi lost all control of their stomachs when their leader looked up to them, wordlessly pleading for help.

Thrusting up from his stomach, squeezing into his esophagus, and directly out of his mouth, thick, green vines decorated with thorns reached out of his mouth. They twisted, squirmed, and wriggled like single serpents, dancing in saliva and vomit. "OH GOD!" shrieked the rock kunoichi.

Inikiri began to convulse violently while foam and blood began to trickle down his uniform. The vines were stretching his throat, piercing up further, slithering down his nose and out his ears. And those thorns, how they tore at his soft tissue, such pain and an unpleasant way to die. In a matter of an agonizing three minutes, the theatric scene came to an end as the rock shinobi commander fell to the floor.

The rock shinobi shivered with terror, as a silhouette doused in fog and rain approached, floating more than walking. "Did you take pleasure in the way your commander left this world?" the killer asked, as if what just happened, hadn't quite quenched its desire. "Because, I didn't quite get the reaction that I really wanted from you cowards!"

Shooting out from the thick fog and punishing rain fall, a spiral knot of the same thorn and vine that overpowered their commander advanced. Like vengeful fingers, the vines stretched out and one by one, the rock shinobi squad experienced nature's wrath.

A profuse amount of blood had been splattered across the splintered white picket fences that lined broken homes. Mute steps, became audible syrupy splattering as the killer strolled over to the splayed bodies. She had been chasing this squad all morning, just because they had caught her eye in the fray.

"Enemies are to be punished before death," the grass kunoichi put her hand to her face and slid the expressionless kabuki mask intricately decorated in black tribal markings, up to rest atop her head. Kanna's face took full screen in her dream with blood splattered like well earned badges across her flak vest.

"NO!" Kanna felt the drop of reality slug her in the gut. Eyes open wide to the wooden ceiling of the manor, her chest heaved with heavy gasps and wheezing. As beads of sweat formed along Kanna's upper lip and slicked across her chest, she realized it had all been a dream. Well, rather a memory coming back to haunt her.

"They won't stop… but why? Its hurts more now that I'm here… nothing more than a prisoner - ah!" Kanna's stress levels must have been teetering at the edge of a nervous breakdown. Scalp stinging, she had just realized her own fingers were twisted in her hair. Pulling her arms down, strands of black entwined her digits and caught between split nails.

She had to get out of here - she just had to! But, how? Untangling herself from white sheets, Kanna lightly placed her feet on the cold wood of her fine room. Bright light spilled in through the windows, making her squint slightly as she stood and made her way to the bathroom door.

After washing up, brushing out her hair with a lone brush in a drawer, she was reluctant to put back on her traditional chihaya. The Miko robes were sullied with dirt from the cellar that bastard had tossed her into, as if she were a broken doll. "He could have had enough consideration to bring me the clothes from the noble woman he killed for this manor," Kanna told no one in particular.

Looking around the room, it was relatively modern and clean. She wondered who might have lived in such a home before Akatsuki came knocking. Speaking of the Akatsuki, she wondered why there had been no sort of wake up call. So in no real rush to greet her captor, she walked over to the doors and slid them as quietly as she could open.

He was nowhere in sight, "huh," she sighed in relief. Beginning a exploration of the manor, which she was prisoner in, Kanna didn't leave a drawer unturned or a door unopened. This home was vast; it would be easy to not run into another person. And strangely, she found herself looking…

Where was her captor? Could her skills of avoiding him, really work so good? Or maybe he was gone, perhaps he had left… "Who am I kidding?" Most likely, Itachi was avoiding _her_.

Continuing down the hall, taking a right at the fork in the road, she was about to start her search for the kitchen when- "…I-I can feel him!" Kanna spoke in a breathless voice. No, it wasn't some animalistic gland of sweat that was drawing her, though it could have been slightly. "This chakra, its so…horrid."

The pulse of chakra was so strong… One part of Kanna's mind told her it would be a wiser choice to stay away, far from a man prominent in any shinobi bingo book. Yet, the other side of the Miko's mind was so curious, that her feet began to move without any dictation.

Strong sun rays from a wide open door leading to the courtyard, caused Kanna to act with a hand, shielding her eyes. Shade from the door soothed, while the new sight before her caused breath to lock up in her chest.

It was Itachi, centered in the middle of the brick courtyard. He was squatted down, leaning on the balls of his feet with his muscular bare back to her. For a moment, Kanna had wondered what exactly he was doing, but his intentions became obvious when his fists appeared.

Kunai knives held between each of his fingers while thick wooden targets were nailed everywhere. Kanna didn't dare to utter a word and break his concentration, she would move…if she could. But her body was firmly rooted, absolutely entranced by the insanely strong chakra pulsating off of his form.

Thinking she'd go insane if she waited any longer for him to just inhale, Kanna practically fell forward when his sudden reaction to a late autumn leaf descending from a tree, brought on the deadly accuracy that was Itachi. So fast and so precise, he seemed out of this world to her, how long had it been since she saw a shinobi as strong as he felt to be?

Chakra to his feet, Itachi was airborne as he performed an all out assault on the thick wooden targets. _Slam, slam, slam_ - the kunai knives went like bullets, they slammed into every target, not even a centimeter off of the red dots.

'Breathe- I'm not breathing!' Kanna was so entranced by the display, she had forgotten to breathe!

The seriousness of this training, it was intense. Doing a complete 360º, still airborne, his last kunai shot from his hand blindly - he wasn't even looking in the direction he tossed! Feet coming in contact with the ground, Kanna didn't understand where the last kunai went.

Just then - at the corner of the courtyard where a lone tree stood maybe 30 feet away from Itachi and Kanna, a round wooden target fell, broken in two by the kunai which hit dead center. Then one after another, all of the wooden targets split down the middle, splintering when they hit the cobblestone flooring.

"Huh…no way-" Kanna slapped her hands over her mouth. But, she was a bit too late. The Uchiha's sweat slicked back was still to the Miko, yet he caught her in his scrutinizing glare.

"Tell me priestess," he started, in his usual emotionless tone. "Did that excite you?"

What - what did he mean by 'excite'? Kanna stood rigid and then glared at Itachi. "I don't understand."

The Uchiha scowled, "Of course you don't," he said while walking over to a busted target. The Miko only watched, hiding the lingering shock of what she just witnessed. He had such skill, and yet… Itachi was so calm. It was seriously unnerving to be around such a person.

There was a clattering as a last target busted near Kanna, the kunai sliding to her sandaled feet. She looked down, seeing its point and wrapped handle. The girl froze, as if the weapon were some arch enemy. From across the courtyard, Itachi had picked up the last kunai in his range, lifting his head up just in time to see the Miko shrink at the sight of a common shinobi weapon. "Pick it up," he commanded.

"…no," Kanna replied, her voice losing confidence and becoming hazy.

"Pick it up, I said," Itachi's voice didn't soften, it only became sharper.

"I don't want to," her voice had cracked, Kanna's feet receded and as she backed up, her shoulders pressed up against a firm, warm chest. Itachi stood behind her, his eyes burning into her neck.

"Were my orders not clear enough for you?" said the Uchiha. "Last night, I distinctly told you that not following my orders, would lead to severe consequences. Now pick up that kunai, and I'll forget you ever told me _no_." God why was he so cruel?

Kanna bit her bottom lip and choked back a whimper. Itachi's eyes narrowed at her unnecessary dramatic sounds. Bending down slowly, with Itachi behind her intently watching, Kanna's trembling hand leant out to grab the kunai's handle. Feeling the cold steel against her palm, Kanna regained her composure.

"Turn around," Itachi watched as Kanna obeyed without a word of protest. Clasped in her right hand, the kunai looked at home. She didn't glance at him or the small weapon in her grasp…she only looked out to the left of the gloomy manor side.

Giving her a pitiful look, Itachi alleviated Kanna's cowardice by taking the kunai from her hand. Without a word, he turned on his bare heel and made his was towards the door leading back into the manor. "Wait…" The Haru's head was down, shadows covering her eyes. For some strange reason, Kanna felt sick letting Itachi just walk away. They were going to be around each other for a long time, and though blood between them wouldn't be more than captive and captor, she had to try and make things comfortable.

Itachi didn't turn around to face her, he just paused impatiently. "Please, forgive me for my words last night. You are not scum, and… you had every right to strike me," she apologized weakly. Right now, she felt so defeated. But it was better to fake an apology than continue to be on this wicked person's bad side.

"The situation you were, and still are in… I didn't expect anything less than your unwillingness," His voice, it sent shivers down her spine. So impassive, how did he bare to live like that? "Let me also say Kanna-san, your insecurities greatly annoy me, and they won't save you or your little brother."

"I've come to terms with that," Kanna replied sadly. The Uchiha wondered if Kanna was merely apologizing to get on his good side (if such a thing existed), or did she merely have a revelation in her sleep?

"Are you hungry?" he asked in that monotone.

"I…uh," the Miko was surprised how quickly he changed the subject. She was even more surprised that she had forgotten about food. "Yes-"

"The kitchen is down the second hall to your right, make breakfast," simply said the Uchiha.

She had to admit, she saw that one coming. Mumbling something about Itachi 'being incapable of domestic tasks', the Miko made her way down the hall. "Oh, and Kanna-san," began Itachi.

"Do you want me to do a load of laundry as well, Itachi-san?" sarcasm escaped her lips.

"Just a little advice," Itachi neared a corner, "If you decide to do something ignorant, like attempt to poison my food, you better pray to god that I don't catch on." Not wasting another moment in her presence, Itachi walked away.

In an immense kitchen stocked with enough food for an army, it didn't take Kanna more than twenty minutes to fry some chicken, steam rice, and boil some vegetables. Going out to the dining room, Itachi was already seated, a bottle of sake by his right hand.

Stepping over to him, she placed his bowl down and avoided his eyes while making it safely to her side of the table. Then right in front of her, she saw Itachi spend a little too much time sifting through his rice - 'he must be checking to see if I put rat poison in it.' There wasn't any rat poison in this manor because she checked.

Kanna and Itachi ate in silence. Through the entire meal the only time Itachi even acknowledged the Miko was sitting at the same table as him, was when he requested another bottle of sake. Though she had to admit, Itachi's soft manner at the table was impressive. She thought Akatsuki members would be a bit more swine and slob-like. "Why?" she broke the silence.

"…," Itachi said nothing. Sharingan eyes half-lidded, he poured a generous amount of sake.

"Why did you hit my brother back at the shrine, was it really that necessary?"

Itachi arched an eyebrow cause she was asking him about her brother - that kid must have been on her mind at all times. "You're persistent," he stated, taking another chunk of chicken.

"Well, why did you hit him?"

"I didn't," he strictly declared a bit more abruptly than he had wanted. Kanna had caught that, and wondered if her question bothered him in some way.

"Then why was his nose bleeding?" Once again, she was getting to him.

Itachi put his utensils down, "I came across your brother being beaten by other children," he said coldly, "I merely interrupted them."

Kouji's round face came into play, Itachi holding him by his collar, just before putting him out with some strange ability. So, the Uchiha hadn't harmed her brother? Kanna believed him, though she couldn't comprehend why. "Thank you…"

Itachi stared at his bowl and sake bottle before gazing up at Kanna and all her strangeness. A clan brat, that's what she was. Catching himself staring a little too long at her face, the Uchiha scowled. "Don't think of it as an act of kindness."

"Not that I really do, but why not?" she asked sipping her tea.

"Because it was pathetic that your brother with the clan name of Haru was so incapable of defending himself," Itachi delivered that line absolutely deadpan. There was a cold draft that hissed in through the blinds, stirring Kanna's pin-needle straight hair in awkward silence.

"My brother is not pathetic just because he refused to resort to violence!" She slammed her fists on the table. Rice spilled on the floor, and Itachi's sake dribbled onto his black pants. This angered him and her haughty attitude was unacceptable.

Itachi stood up sternly, getting out of the streaming sake path. "Clean this up, _now_," how he emphasized on 'now', would frighten just about anyone. Kanna stood up and raised her arm in a show of white, long drape sleeves; a strict finger pointed at the Uchiha.

"What do _you_ know about family?" she shouted.

"For you incompetence of manner, once you have finished with this mess, you are to sweep the entire house deck. I don't like to accommodate in filth, Miko," Itachi shot at her. His long bangs curved at his cheeks, while the headband struck through, reminded Kanna who exactly she was dealing with.

Practically ready to throw the table at Itachi, Kanna only scowled. The girl had attempted to be 'kind' to the Uchiha, only to have him insult her. As tachi walked away, he inwardly berated himself for letting Kanna get to him. Unknown to the Haru, family seriously struck a nerve with Itachi.

"I despise you, you filthy criminal - stay away from me!" Kanna screamed this while finishing the cleanup in the dining room, then grabbing the broom for her long work on the deck. Oh, did it take serious self-control from the Uchiha, to _not_ go outside and grab that girl by her hair.

* * *

A/N: I got a lot of clean up ahead.

Review, please? :D

**terms**

**Miko:**priestess, shrine maiden.

**Chihaya:** traditional priestess robes, consist of white kimono top, red hakama pants

**Kegare Squad:** (oc) A group of elite ninja from Kusagakure, consisted only of the strongest Haru clan members. Similar to hunter-nin, they steal secrets from rival shinobi bodies, thus empowering their clan with knowledge of how to beat other bloodline trait jutsu, etc. They abduct, sell information, kidnap, & scavenge bodies from war. Known as the 'criminal clan'.


	6. carve my smile

_"Resurrection is for those who didn't get it right the first time…"_

Since the little _dispute_ between the Uchiha and Haru, the manor had become deathly quiet. Itachi found himself drifting from room to room, just trying to find something to occupy himself with. After an hour of searching, he decided sake would be his best bet for mild entertainment.

Going to the kitchen and absentmindedly moving glasses around, he found a rather large bottle of sake. Taking it down from the cabinet, he popped the top and made his way to his sleeping quarters. The Uchiha hadn't been able to report to the leader of Akatsuki since he had captured Kanna, probably because… well, there wasn't exactly decent news to tell Pain.

Itachi was pretty sure the Haru wasn't about to give way to Akatsuki force and initiate training. Something about the way she reacted to that kunai, and how determined she still was to convince him that she was merely a priestess, told Itachi something was definitely wrong with her. Coming into realization as he put the sake bottle to his lips, Kanna was becoming a mystery of great annoyance.

Back in the firm wood of a bed headboard, Itachi bent his knees up only to let his left arm idly lay across his lap while his other hand was occupied with the sake bottle, already half-emptied. Tired, bored, and seriously not willing to go on with the task appointed to him by their leader, Itachi's eyes caught the slow movements of a female outline sauntering outside his bedroom walls.

It was Kanna, who Itachi amusingly theorized was so dedicated to cleanliness that she'd sweep till the dead of night. Or of course the girl just didn't want to come back into the manor and face him. Whatever the reason, Itachi watched her form closely.

Back and forth she swept, every movement a perfect clone of the last. Hair past waist length, the pin-needle straight strands of the Haru, waved like the tendrils of a lone willow tree. Curved eye lashes weighing heavy over sharingan, Itachi wondered why he was so entranced by her movements.

His direct orders had placed Kanna in this humiliating position, the girl swept because she was afraid of what he would do to her if she disobeyed. Whether it sadism the Uchiha was guilty of, he enjoyed the display before him. Well, that was until Kanna came to a halt in mid sweep.

Arching a eyebrow, Itachi curiously waited for the girl's next movement. The shadowed contour of a bamboo shafted broom; Kanna raised it above her head. Then like a sledge hammer in the grasp of a beast, the female brought the broom down with a loud piercing crack. As if she governed the movement of a bull whip, she slammed the broom down over and over, and over again - relentlessly taking her frustrated anger out on the floor.

"Foolish girl…" issued past Itachi's liquor slicked lips.

Splintering the bamboo shaft, sending bristles flying in all directions, the broom surrendered before Kanna could crush in the deck with her force.

With the last remnants of wood, the Haru grasped the shaft to her chest and crumbled to the floor in hysterical breathing. This wasn't supposed to happen to her! Things had changed - she forced change upon herself in hopes that she and Kouji could be unnoticed.

Yet here she was once again having her demons breathe down her neck. Not only she suffered, but Kouji's whereabouts were unknown to her, his sister was oblivious to his wellbeing now. Fists balling up, they were brought to her soft jaw line where she sobbed.

Forming on the paper-patched doors she so openly displayed her frustrations in front of, Itachi's outline loomed. "Do you seek pity from me?"

"Huh?" Kanna's head came up, reacting to his cold and impassive way of speaking. "I told you to stay away from me!" she hissed between gasped-fits.

"That's not possible," Itachi informed her, as his pale fingers curved around his bedroom doors and slid them open. The nauseating displays of Kanna's emotions were entangled within the white and red of her priestess robes.

His feet stepped down onto the deck and he approached the floored miko. The girl's own fingers entangling in her hair, her body quivered as he approached. "Just let me go…please, just let me leave. I am of no use to you - I can't fight anymore!"

"Get up," he commanded.

"No!"

"Get up," Itachi's fingers were still laced around the sake bottle, warm liquid swirling within the transparent glass as he stepped closer.

Itachi's feet rooted his form into a firm stance by her left side. Bottom lip as a sponge for fear, she bit into her flesh ignoring the sudden sting and heated sensation that now dripped into her mouth.

"No."

In a liquid motion Itachi reached down to rasp a fistful of the girl's hair, as he pulled she suddenly advanced on him. Broom shaft in hand, Itachi felt this searing pain pierce above his left shoulder. 'Unbelievable…'

The sake bottle shattered on the floor, sending shards of glass scattering. Haru Kanna had concealed a large fragment of the broom's shaft beneath her chihaya, and waited impatiently for her disobedience to drive the Uchiha to close range violence.

Pulling the piece of wood from his shoulder, he noticed Kanna had been aiming at a vital organ, his heart. Oh she was a smart one, there was no hiding now. Hitting the floor as Itachi's shock from her attack caused his hand to reach for the fresh wound, Kanna took the seized the opportunity and ran.

It was stupid what she had done but there was no other choice. Now on the muddy ground surrounding the manor, Kanna slammed herself up against the black iron gates. They wouldn't open - so she slammed herself against them again. Chains breaking, the Haru stumbled over rocks and stale weeds.

"Help me! Please - anyone, help me!" why was she shouting for help? The more noise she made, the easier it would be for Itachi to find her. Straying from the dirt road, Kanna squirmed between branches, crawled beneath thorns, only to find the forest ending and she was in a open meadow.

"No…no, no, no!" Prey, food to a red eyed monster, the girl kept running. But she was out in the open, there was nowhere to hide.

Tall grass slick with the cold of evening, were shimmering with the light of the moon and the grass blades danced in a violent gust of wind. Standing in the middle of a meadow was a lone willow tree, buds of newborn leaves waiting for the spring - Kanna, didn't feel as if she'd make it to spring. "He's coming…I know he is, help me-!"

_Slam_!

The girl let out a shrill shriek of fear as her brown eyes went wide and round as the moon overhead. Back up against the willow dormant by autumn, it had taken a blow for her. Turning her cheek, she felt a thin layer of her face peel. A kunai, the Haru had turned to see a kunai not even an inch away from her face. Blade embedded in the willow, its master was not yet in sight.

Last of her dignity crumbling away, Kanna hit the floor. Rocks pressing into her stomach, she crawled with her elbows while being concealed by the tall grass. If need be, the girl would crawl to safety, crawl away from temptation of reverting.

"Hidden in the grass," Itachi's voice fanned over her. Why was he so bent on making her miserable?

Barely crawling five feet, Kanna felt a vice grip on her left shoulder. Cringing in pain, the girl was brought up from the ground. As if she were a doll, Itachi slammed Kanna's chest up against the bark of the willow.

Wind being knocked out of her, a loss of vision indicated Kanna had almost blacked out because of his force. "Oh god, NO!" Face turned to the side, chest prickled by the harshness of the willow bark, Itachi pressed his warm body up against Kanna's back, keeping her pinned.

Still she squirmed, nails scratching into the bark, practically trying to claw herself up the willow. Something needed to be done the Uchiha realized Kanna needed serious restraint. But before Itachi could induce anything, the girl turned around and slapped him clean across the face.

"…," silence.

Sharingan eyes ablaze, Itachi struck out his right hand, crushing his palm into Haru Kanna's breast bone. That stunned her completely, and she gasped for breath as her eyes saw the glint of a second kunai appear from under his black Akatsuki cloak.

Another liquid motion, as his free arm cut through the air space between him and her. The flash of metal, flesh parting and from ear to ear had had sliced Kanna's face. She didn't cry or wince like someone else might have, instead the Haru gawked in disbelief.

Itachi had his kunai in hand, thankful for the silence and immobilizing power the simple weapon inflicted on his captive.

"Maybe now Kanna-san, you see that I am not joking with you," the Uchiha's sharp tongue, it matched his face and dark presence.

Sweat beads along her chest, blood trickling across her jaw line and onto the whiteness of her chihaya top, Kanna stood with her captor in the shadow of a willow in the midst of a night meadow.

The bloody smile which the man wreaked on her, at first seemed far too brutal, but really it hadn't even made her shed a single tear. Mere seconds after he carved the Haru from ear to ear, the blood began to coagulated right in front of his very eyes. Kanna's body was healing itself.

Dried blood flaked from her pale face as a thin transparent layer of flesh grew over the laceration. So fast, the first layer of new flesh began to thicken, until the carved smile completely vanished. Not a scar left in its wake.

"Your Kekkei Genkai," he breathed.

Uchiha Itachi's expressionless mask came into play as those scrutinizing sharingan began to ease across the girl's body. The files which their leader had delivered to the Uchiha had in depth details of the Haru clan's bloodline trait. The Haru harnessed in their DNA instantaneous healing and a hyperactive immune system. It was impossible to inflict a lasting injury on a Haru clan member, though they bled like everyone else and of course died like everyone else, their blood trait made it incredibly difficult to dispatch them.

Poisons were absolutely worthless on her clan. Inflicting flesh wounds, breaking bones, basically meaningless if the body heals itself over a minimal amount of time. Of course there was more to the Haru clan, but Kanna was far too stubborn to do little more than attempt a terrified damsel escape.

"Tell me, how far you thought you were going to get on foot?" inquired Itachi, his hand still firmly placed on Kanna's breast bone, keeping her planted up against the willow tree.

"…," mute, with a defeated stare.

"Did it even cross your mind that even if you were to escape, how would you find your brother?" A light breeze caused Itachi's dark bangs to sweep across his face, while that infamous cloud patterned cloak danced along with Kanna's dirty chihaya.

Swallowing hard, the girl shook her head. "No… it hadn't," her voice, it was weak.

"Obviously," Itachi withdrew his hand from her chest. "I would think you would have had approached the situation, with a bit more sense," his eyes narrowed at her then. "So, are the emotional outbursts a tendency of yours?"

'He said that if I left the estate…attempted to escape, he would kill me. Why am I still standing?' At first she was quiet, just letting thin lines of thought whisk along her mind. "Do you enjoy making others feel weak, Itachi-san?" Looking up to the tall figure, her eyes soaked in the detail of him.

Withdrawing the kunai from the willow tree, Itachi wiped the Haru's blood from the other, before he concealed the knives under his cloak once again.

"With you Kanna-san, I need not do anything," his voice sounded coldly calculating. "Simply because you make yourself feel weak, so what's the point in an overkill?"

Uchiha Itachi, when he had cut her face, had he known she would heal in an instant? Did he merely want to see how long her blood would flow?

Her lips trembled as her throat constricted. "Please…just don't harm my brother. I know you can't understand what he means to me, why I do and hide what I hide…but," Kanna's eyes blurred over, and Itachi's form began to haze away. "I'll do whatever you want, just let me see my brother…please."

An owl screeched in the distance of the night, Itachi inhaled deeply as he went over in his head how she believed he didn't understand the relationship that was between blood. That sort of dedication he did in fact question himself about.

"You're correct Kanna-san because I am incapable of understanding the reasons why you hide what you are. The subliminal reasons why you can stand in front of me and lie so blatantly," His head turned and those red eyes gazed out into the nothingness of Earth Country.

Maybe this was why he didn't kill her? Maybe Itachi felt a pity towards her, or…he just couldn't deal with more guilt on his conscience. Haru Kanna adored someone, her own blood and it was obvious she would give her own life up for her little brother's happiness.

Itachi on the other hand did whatever was in his power, to smudge that inky sentiment away. The Uchiha slaughtered his family, whether Kanna knew that or not. Family was the first thing on his mind in the morning and the last thing on his mind as he lied awake in bed, incapable of sleep, transformed into a melancholic insomniac.

Kanna did not understand the sudden sad silence, which enveloped around her and the Uchiha. If she was a mystery to him, he was a mystery to her.

"Do not think I show compassion towards you, in fact, it's the complete opposite," started the even keeled man. "You will be of no use to the Akatsuki, if you continue to be as such…" Suddenly, Itachi buttoned up his collar, having the height of it conceal the lower part of his fine face. The Uchiha did not glance to her as he stood beneath the budded tendrils of the willow, his body rigid as a block of ice.

"I'll change, believe me," said Kanna. No, had she lost her mind? She was going to cooperate?

"Precisely in one week, I will need to send my report on you. There should be no need for me to explain in depth, what will come about when the leader of Akatsuki reads that you are unwilling to cooperate," Itachi's cold voice did not yield, he spoke to her, as if he displayed a contract in front of her.

"…," Hands trembling, there was a mixture of hate and misery while she listened to the Uchiha.

"The willing weak deserve defeat, Kanna-san. You have mass potential, weakness shouldn't be an issue for you, but you make it as so."

"My penance should be savage-" she started, but Itachi glared gesturing her to keep silent as he spoke.

"Since you are so focused on your brother, I will tell you this. He is not in decent hands, but he is in safe hands, and has yet to be harmed," the Uchiha stepped forward, coming closer to the stand-still form of the dark haired girl. "To insure your brother's safety, Kanna-san…do as you're command to."

"But you don't understand!" she shouted.

"In time, you will inform me why I am unable of understanding you. Until then, play the part of the elder sister." Standing directly in front of her, he peered downward at her form.

Haru Kanna had been the complete opposite of what he had been expecting to acquire from Kusagakure. Itachi believed he was going to come face to face with a bona fide villain, a fiend who lusted after the sensation of others' pain. Itachi thought, he would find someone similar to himself.

Evidently he had been wrong. Haru Kanna experienced a huge loss, the near extinction of her clan. She was probably a fiend years back, but now she was broken and Itachi unfortunately was left to glue the sharp shards back together.

"Why, why are you doing this?" Kanna's voice had gained some of its former strength but her uncertainty and also suspicions became even more severe as she looked up from Itachi's feet, to the bleeding hole in his left shoulder.

Noticing where the Haru's eyes went, the shadows beneath his eyes darkened. "Whether it be dumb luck, or extreme skill…I'm not about to let your body go to waste," His hand leant forward

"…don't touch me," she whispered as her right hand went up in order to reach for his wrist and yield his touch. As she did this, Itachi's index finger was still able to reach her. Scratching off dried blood with a nail, those crimson eyes were lidded over.

Once again, Kanna was shocked by the subtle kindness he could show. From being able to slice across her face without as much as a flinch…to this.

Itachi noticed the position he was in, so he slowly recoiled his hand letting it be concealed by the black and red clouded cloak. With an expressionless mask calmly placed on his face, the Uchiha turned around only to walk off.

"…."

Kanna's stroll back to the manor was a painfully stretched and lonely one. Still she had yet to unscramble the puzzle that was Uchiha Itachi. Why did he spare her? Was there a look of sadness in his eyes when she pleaded for her brother's safety? Could it be that her captor was haunted by his own memories?

"…and, why do I even care?"

Those questions would have to go unanswered. Because squeezing through the dark iron gates, the Haru's eyes fell upon the stillness of the manor. Not one light was aglow.

As Kanna stepped over the blood and glass which started out her pathetic escape and also punishing recapture, she was unaware that she was being watched. Itachi's body was propped up against his bed headboard. Now onyx-eyed, the peaceful form of the broken miko sauntered by. Sure she was attractive and if he hadn't been given direct orders, the Uchiha might have had his way with her. But Itachi slowly began to figure out why he spared her. Kanna, like him, wandered about like a specter. Whatever she had lived through, whatever she had done left nothing but regret and anger. Though Itachi was hiding that exact pain, Kanna wore it on her sleeve. "Foolish girl."

* * *

A/N: whistle while you work! I'm cleaning up chapter after chapter. Onto 7! XD


	7. a clay bird?

_"Show me compassion and I'll show you pain…"_

Between the suffocation of thick manor wall, under watch by monster red eyes, Haru Kanna could not escape her nightmares.

"ELIMINATE ALL!" Roars shook the land as did the combat skills of rock shinobi. What the foreigners had thought would be an uncomplicated massacre of the Haru clan members, turned out to be an all out battle within the terra incognita, Kusa no Kuni. At this moment it was difficult to really see which side was closer to victory.

It could be beyond the imagination of those who weren't there, of those who didn't see the peaceful compound of homes and flowers suddenly alter into the scene of a botanical hell. Monstrous floral beasts raised their budded heads to the sky, as toxic fumes dropped from their mouths and dropped rival shinobi like flies.

Now the ground shook and trembled to the calls of foreign shinobi. Earth opening up, the entire village square was suddenly sucked into the ground and swallowed in one gluttonous glomp. Numerous blips of black shot out of the smoke and rubble in pursuit of a quick moving kegare member. Haru Kanna's body was even aching by now and her morale had dropped greatly. It had happened so quick, the Haru clan had a great advantage on home territory, an even greater advantage with their bloodline trait. But the tables turned so unexpectedly.

Stepping off of gate pikes, sliding beneath home foundations and scurrying across bloodstained roads, the girl's chest heaved with exhaustion. She couldn't outrun them for long, not with such a low chakra gage. "Where are the reinforcements?" she spat angrily. All the support from the village was nowhere in sight.

She stopped at the corner of a deserted street, darkened by the late morning. Not even more than five seconds did she stand at a still, when the earth beneath her began to quake. Numerous spots of chakra pulsed beneath the soil, as rock shinobi boxed her in.

Breath becoming rapid, sweat glazing the innards of that kabuki mask, Kanna would not allow them to attack her tired form first. She rooted her stance and a line of hand seals began to play out. _Serpent, rabbit, ox, tiger, serpent_… Though the rock shinobi submerged themselves beneath the earth in a defense strategy, they weren't going to be safe for long.

"Kanna!" a familiar male voice crossed over a body littered alley way, just at the moment the female Haru was about to unleash her Ninjutsu. She turned her head in a reflex, trying to find the bearer of that voice. And in just that instant of hesitation, it left Haru Kanna open to attack.

"Hurry! Stop her before she finishes the seals!"

Earth bursting open, two rock shinobi became airborne and unseen to Kanna, the metal of a kunai glinted in the night atmosphere. One quick movemen, and that kunai went shooting straight towards the distracted kegare. "What the - ?" _SLAM_! The kunai impacted with Kanna's forehead, sending her stumbling back into the wreckage of a home.

Kanna neck sustained serious whiplash from the weapon's impact and now slowly her mask was beginning to fill with her own blood. "Dammit…" she hissed, while bringing her hand up. Feeling for the kunai's handle, she soon located it and pulled it from the dead center of her kabuki mask's forehead.

"We need to take her out by hand, we've ran a shortage in supply," called the rock-nin to his visible comrade. Both of them watched the wreckage of the home, wondering if that kunai to the forehead was precise enough to ease their troubling minds. But no, a shadowed contour moved within the wreckage.

"ACK!" The crack of a ricochet sounded off. Blood splattered back onto the face of one rock shinobi, as his partner desperately slapped and tore at his jaw line. His very own kunai split through the cartilage of his larynx. The rock-nin's fingers eased their grip on the kunai handle, which just barely protruded between his lips. Soon, he just fell dead.

Using the body flick, Kanna appeared behind the second surfaced rock shinobi. "Grass Style: Violent Pulsating Root no Jutsu!" Hands strong in a serpent seal, chakra pumped from her feet and into the soil she stood upon.

The ground began to rumble and every stem, root, and vine submerged in the dirt pulsed with life. The Rock shinobi struck with fear, he tuned to see the kegare staring him down. Roots had exploded upward and wrapped themselves around his wrists, ankles, and neck. Still the Haru held the serpent seal, keeping the jutsu under control. "Tell me, how have you turned the outcome of this battle around? What weapon do you use rock shinobi? Answer, and I'll spare you!" Kanna shouted upward.

Invader held inoperative by the native jutsu, he squirmed and cried for help as the roots tightened their grip about his limbs. "I don't know what you're talking about," he replied curtly.

"Oh really, so I guess my clan just wasn't strong enough to defeat four rock squadrons? I don't think so," Kanna's chakra manipulated the roots allowing more pressure to be asserted as she dealt out access energy.

"Gah!" he yelled between gritted teeth. If the roots squeezed any harder, his head was sure to burst in a bloody mess. Eyes widened, the rock shinobi looked over the Haru's form with pleading eyes, which was a huge mistake because he just gave away his remaining comrades positions.

"Idiot," Kanna scowled beneath her mask.

"Wh-what are you doing?" the rock shinobi watched as the girl pulled her hands apart, extinguishing the serpent seal. Didn't this mean the jutsu would cancel out? No, he still was wrapped in a living web.

"Taking the opportunity you presented to me. No watch as I hang your comrades out for the vultures and crows," her voice fleeted into silence as once again her hands formed seals. "Grass Style: Forest of Bereavement."

Watching in agony and terror, the rock shinobi witnessed hundreds of bamboo shafts shoot up from the soil. With a horrendous metal churning screech, a thick iron gate was literally ripped from some yard as the earth churned. Blood curdling screams that were once muffled were brought to the surface as shinobi now hung like slabs of meat from the tops of the high bamboo shoots.

"Now that you see how serious I am, will you tell me what I want to hear?" Almost as lifeless and emotionless as a machine, Kanna's head snapped away from the repulsive scene, to her captive. She waited for his answer.

Tears streamed down his eyes, but he kept a stiff jaw and a brave glare. "FUCK YOU!"

"How dare you," Kanna replied, absolutely insulted. Growing tired of the rock shinobi, a simple snap of her fingers unleashed the full-extent of the Pulsating Root. Tightening around his wrists, ankles, and neck, the rock-nin's head was the first one to go, as it burst and splattered brain matter everywhere. Soon after the roots just tore his corpse limb from limb.

"Kanna!" Again the familiar cry of a fellow grass shinobi. "Kanna-san, I have urgent news, please hear me out!" Yes it was Tsuta, her elder cousin. He had been the one who interrupted her fight and now she had a stinging headache because of him.

Irately she switched her attention from the fleshy mess, to the tall form of her cousin. "Tsuta."

"Amazin kill, you make the clan proud-!" the male Haru was sent flying back as Kanna did a round house kick to his chest. He must have flew twenty feet before hitting the ground, then skidding to a stop as his back met the cold harshness of a cement wall. "Why did you…?"

Kanna sauntered over to him, "You could have got me killed!" she spat angrily. The female Haru pointed to her forehead. The mask had a quarter sized hole right in the center. Blood had oozed out of it, but now was dried and caked.

Tsuta brought himself up, gingerly picking up what little grains of dignity he could find under the shadow of the female Kegare member's ego . "Of course. Forgive me."

"Don't let it happen again," she warned, cleaning the blood from between her fingernails. "What news is there from the front?"

"That's the problem, there is none," voiced Tsuta.

Feet shifting, Kanna's body now completely faced her elder cousin. Beneath the kabuki mask of tribal black markings, her eyes were narrowed. "Explain," she demanded.

"The reinforcements from the village have all been pulled back. We've gotten word that…well, there has been a recent council and it's been decided that the Haru clan is to deal with its own issues," Tsuta was still in shock of the recent news himself. Every shinobi with no Haru blood ties, were taken off of the battlefield.

A suffocating silence descended and Tsuta apprehensively peered up to Haru Kanna. She kept a rigid stance and that mask with its hollow eyes glared lifelessly up at him. The wait for her word, her command and judgment was an agonizing stay.

All of a sudden her right hand gestured out, pointing Tsuta to the wreckage of Kusagakure. "No," she said, disdain oozing from the cracks of her mouth. "If they so wish to pull back the reinforcements like the cowards they are, threaten their families - do whatever it takes and inform Kyuusai-"

Tsuta's heart skipped a beat then, his jaw began to tremble. "My other news is that all remaining clan members are to regroup back at the Earth Deity shrine," he paused. "That was the last order your brother gave before we lost contact with him."

Kanna's chest tightened and she bit her lip, "…what?" That strong, calculated and precise tone of voice quickly deteriorated. Now she just couldn't breathe.

* * *

So, it was absolute then. Haru Kanna had arrived at the conclusion that she was going to reside, she was going to pay heed and do whatever it took to keep her and her brother breathing. Even if it meant cooperating with the Akatsuki. Even if it meant, she'd be under Uchiha Itachi's shadow.

There was a loud shattering sound as a glass slipped between Kanna's fingers and fell to the floor. Shards scattered across the tiled surface and at first she just stared at them with this blank expression. But how? How was she going to break out of her shell?

Sharingan eyes stared off into the depth of Earth country, burning holes through whatever timber or rock dared to pass between the crimson sights. At this point, Itachi wanted nothing more than a quiet day. He'd strive for such a day, even if that meant avoiding the pending Akatsuki member, Haru Kanna. She was really the cause of his newest headache and also the throbbing in his shoulder.

'I let my guard down,' he thought, turning his chin down and looking to the discoloring flesh around the hole. Of course he had to let his guard down, how else would Haru Kanna be able to stab a broom stick through his shoulder?

He heard the sound of glass shattering in the kitchen. That clumsy girl was at it again. As if her failed escape wasn't bothersome enough. Now she was going to break all the dishes in the damn manor. "Troublesome girl," he hissed, before looking back out his bedroom window.

After deciding the glass wasn't going to clean itself up, Kanna kneeled down and began to use her hands to cup the glass in a small pile. Yet, she was transfixed by how something so whole could break so easily. If she wasn't so cowardice, if she wasn't so scared to stand up to her captor, she might have a chance of seriously getting away. Damsel in distress screams and squeaks weren't going to get her anywhere.

"But…do I want to go back?" her head teamed with thoughts and instead of using a dust pan to pick up the glass shards, Kanna's pale digits stretched out to grab the glass in a clump. Clinking together, her fist tightened as that anger swelled up once again. Glass crunched in between Kanna's grasp, blood began to ooze from the sides of her fist. "Calm down…just calm down," she whispered while holding her palm out and displaying the jagged cuts as her blood began to dry and new skin stretched over.

"Kanna," Itachi's menacing voice came down and along the hall.

Tossing the bloody shards within the trash, the Haru didn't need to ask what he wanted. So before leaving the kitchen, her digits poked between the bottles in a liquor cabinet.

Going down the manor halls, she questioned Itachi's absence from life. If he was put in charge to recruit her, shouldn't he have explained the motives of Akatsuki to her? "The least he could do is brood a little closer to me," Kanna's skin crawled with the aspect of her very words.

With a sake bottle in hand, she then came to a sudden halt outside of Itachi's room. Fingers poking between the paper-patched doors, Kanna slid them open. She found the Uchiha sitting at the end of his bed, gazing aimlessly out of a window, taking in the view of the outside. Akatsuki cloak tossed over a chair, he was in a pallid purple mesh shirt with matching pants that hung snug around his slender waist.

"Itachi-san," she just wanted to get her task done and hurry out of sharingan's sight. So scuttling towards the Uchiha, Kanna very cautiously placed the sake bottle down on a nightstand. The dark haired man in no way even thanked her. He seemed far too busy scowling.

A bottle of peroxide along with bandages laid by Itachi's right side and at first Kanna didn't understand, but she soon gathered up enough courage to look more at the Uchiha. There was a gaping hole in his shoulder, the same wound she inflicted on him last night. There was silence as Kanna stood staring.

"I don't need you further, leave," ordered Itachi.

The girl was about to turn around and do just that, when her feet suddenly felt heavy with guilt. Itachi had expressed to her the first night they were under the same roof, that if she tried to escape, he'd kill her. No questions asked, Itachi's voice was serious with dangerous truth.

But when she did try and escape, just after stabbing him with a broom shaft, he caught her probably effortlessly. 'And he didn't do it.' Uchiha Itachi didn't kill her. Just that small gesture kept her lingering in his doorway.

"Here, at least allow me to bandage the wound I gave you," Kanna could barely believe the very words which so easily spilled from her lips.

"…," Itachi's head slowly turned, to only allow those sharingan eyes to glare at his captive. The wound? Itachi's mouth pursed as his shoulder once again throbbed painfully. She did more than cause a wound - Kanna stabbed a damn broom stick through his flesh! It was absurd and completely ridiculous. Though, Itachi didn't show it. His face was a blank canvas.

He gave no objective, nor did he give permission. Kanna inhaled deeply then forced her feet to step towards Itachi's bed. She grabbed a towel then dabbed an end of it with peroxide. "May I?" the girl inquired, gesturing if it was okay to sit beside him.

"…," Itachi once again gave no objective or permission.

Haru Kanna lowered her backside onto the bed slowly. What was she afraid of? That Itachi's supposed unpredictable nature might have him lunge at her, or pull a kunai out? Well, she was very wrong. Because Itachi did nothing threateninf at all, he allowed Kanna to sit by him and even allowed her to lean over his frame to grab the hydrogen peroxide bottle. He didn't flinch, nor say a single word.

Towel in hand, Kanna's stomach suddenly knotted up as her palms began to sweat. "Um, excuse me Itachi-san," she spoke timidly. "But, you'll need to remove your shirt."

"…," Exhaling heavily, he abruptly stood up almost startling the girl. Giving her a glower of pity, Itachi's fingers grabbed at the hem of his shirt. In one quick motion he slid the strange top off, exposing the firm muscles of his upper body and abdomen.

Itachi sat back down to watch as Kanna began to unroll the strips of bandages while making sure not to peer too long at him. Still he had yet to see some indication of a fighter in her. When he so cruelly shoved her against that tree, it wasn't even a fist that met his cheek. No, it was a slap, common for any woman.

"You should have tended to it last night. You risked infection and scarring…" said Kanna, dabbing more peroxide on a clean towel end. The girl would just lightly pat the wound, not wanting to further irritate the discoloring skin.

Soon after she shifted her sitting position so more of her body faced Itachi and it was a bit easier for her to bandage him. But once she finished bandaging him, Kanna noticed her own eyes wandering along the curves of Itachi's muscular, lean built frame.

"Scars," Kanna's brown eyes widened. The Uchiha's body was decorated with various sized scars. "Where did you…" her brain must have not been functioning correctly today, cause her hand then leant out to touch a long horizontal scar reaching across his chest. "Where did you get this?"

Itachi felt her cold touch, making his skin quiver with a chill. He didn't move, nor did the Akatsuki member shove the girl's hand away. "…Hunter-nin," he answered tonelessly.

"Oh," was her simple reply. Her fingers didn't stop there. Kanna's curiosity had them softly slide across Itachi's fleshy surface, to the next scar. The Haru didn't understand why she was touching him, touching such a famous killer.

The Uchiha's expression stayed the same, impassive. Yet, he couldn't help but notice Kanna's soft and warm touch. Sharingan eyes eased on the girl's small hands, Itachi's own hand leant out to grip her wrist.

"Wait!" The Haru almost snapped her arm back in surprise when Itachi grabbed at her. "I'm sorry-" she began, but went silent as she noticed the Uchiha gazing curiously to her fingers and palm. Almost like a child, intrigued with the intricate patterns of a butterflies wings. "Um?"

Uchiha Itachi felt a head-shaking disappointment, Haru Kanna had no calluses. Thickened skin caused my repeated pressure and friction; this told him it really had been a while since she fought, since she served time on the shinobi battlefield.

Itachi still had grip on Kanna's wrist. Pressing it to his chest, very slowly he slid Kanna's hand down his abdomen muscles and then stopped just above his navel. The girl's breathing rate had increased and she swallowed hard as she felt the scar tissue pressed to her palm.

"Bounty hunter," he told her.

Itachi's hand opened and he then released Kanna from his grasp. The Uchiha's attention had been drawn back to the window. His shoulder did indeed feel better now that it was cleaned and dressed, though he would not thank Kanna since she had been the fool to inflict it upon him.

The female Haru's body had been quivering the whole time her captor kept her limb to himself. Perspiration beaded along the smooth form of her neck, as she so gently lifted a hand to rub it away.

"You display no scars," came Itachi's calculating tone. His eyes were still on the window.

"Well, at least not on the surface," she spoke nervously. Kanna would have to thank her bloodline limit for that. Surface scarring from a kitchen knife or kunai it didn't matter, nothing would show upon her flesh afterwards.

A heavy gust of wind churned the greenery around outside. Pink blossoms from the Sakura trees began to dance themselves across the window glass. Soon following the heavy wind blew a loud roar from the clouds. Autumn and Winter must have felt they needed to display just one last show of power.

There was an awkward silence between the Uchiha and Haru. Itachi inwardly smirked and found the scene that just played out, to be rather interesting. Here he was sitting on a bed with a broom wound, while the one who inflicted the pain patched him up. Even more intriguing, the Uchiha had not protested by telling Kanna to just leave him the hell alone. 'Pathetic…I pity her.'

"What's going on?" the gust was unnatural.

He didn't turn to her but instead got up to retrieve his top. Why wasn't she leaving him by now? As if his company was any company at all. Yet unknown to Itachi, Kanna did in fact enjoy his company to some degree. He was the only company she had within the manor walls.

Being alone was something Kanna didn't prefer. Even living back as the shrine keeper, Kouji was around, though her little brother was mute company - he was something sort of like Itachi was. The girl felt like a leech, a desperate leech trying to suck company from the Uchiha.

Inhaling deeply the practically transparent top slid back along his frame. "What do you want?" he inquired rather suspiciously. Itachi's back was to Kanna, but he could already see her unsure expression.

Kanna replied a bit more abrupt than she had wanted. "Akatsuki, why did you decide to join?" She hadn't been able to stop herself and she somewhat wished it was possible to actually eat your own words. "I mean…being as formidable as you were before Akatsuki, what need was there in joining a terrorist group after the tailed beasts?"

Itachi had heard the uncertainty in her question. Just like everyone else, she feared him. A scowl slightly curved his lips. It was rare Itachi spoke at all, even to his own partner, Kisame. But here the Uchiha was standing in the presence of a woman he barely knew, speaking.

"Kanna-san," he started calmly. "If I was so formidable, why does my body display scars?"

He was right. Even Itachi had to be a rookie shinobi back then. There had been people stronger than him, shinobi who were probably considered geniuses in their own right. Yet of course they would all soon fall behind the now notorious Uchiha Itachi.

Haru Kanna sat on the bed looking to the rigid form of the man, whose sharingan eyes burned into her once again. How difficult it was to decipher what emotion he was going through…if he had emotions at all. Why was he like this, how could someone be so impassive. Dare she ask him about the slaughtering of his very own clan? No, that was suicide.

Uchiha Itachi and Haru Kanna were locked in gaze but they were broken apart as a heavy gust of wind suddenly pounded into the sides of the manor. Window shutters began to make a most irritating racket. Doors blew wide open, damp leaves danced along the floor and around the bare feet of Itachi. Merely in casual wear, the cold afternoon air didn't seem to bring anything more than a bitter scowl from him as he took his eyes from Kanna. 'What are _they_ doing here?'

Just as quickly as he called to her, Itachi's form then veered around and left her to sit within his room alone. The Haru soon lifted herself from the soft mattress and headed down the halls to secure the windows and doors. After locking a few shutters, Kanna was in mid-process of locking a glass door when another blast of wind sent the door crashing backwards, nearly hitting her.

"Dammit," the girl bit, before making her way out to the deck. By the chaotic atmosphere, it was safe to say a heavy storm was about to hit them hard. Kanna's head cocked back as she peered from under the manor roof. Thick black and gray clouds churned in the sky as if the remnants of a cauldron. A loud crash sounded off and the door Kanna had been striving to shut slammed closed and snapped the glass from the intricate wooden frame.

That's when she saw it - "What the hell is that?" brown eyes wide with astonishment, this massive bird was descending from the terrible skies. At first she thought her eyes were deceiving her, but no. It was coming down fast and its landing pad was to be the front yard.

As the creature quickly descended down, the Haru had lost complete sight of it. So scurrying around the manor sides, she was able to locate it in the predicted landing spot. Wings still flapping, the window shutters banged against the thick manor walls.

Peeking from behind a wall, Kanna was able to make sense of the large bird. It was simply chakra infused with some substance; most likely clay. With a closer look, she saw two bodies stir on the false bird's back. A large looking man with a mysterious blue skin tone and one seriously disfigured face. He had been the first to dismount. Soon after, he was followed by a blonde woman, who was covered in various cuts.

"Ho- nice place, yeah?" inquired the blonde, who Kanna now realized by the low octave voice was a young man.

"Looks like someone fucking died in there," gurgled the blue creature, while taking a rather large sword from the bird's back and putting it on his own.

"You forgot who is stationed here, _hmmm_?" laughed the blonde as he playfully slapped the blue skinned man on the shoulder. "Let's not keep our loving friend waiting, yeah."

"…Akatsuki?" Kanna breathed fearfully as they made their way up to the manor, sporting the same cloak design as the Uchiha. Her stomach churned, as if Uchiha Itachi's brooding presence wasn't punishment enough. Exactly how many Akatsuki were there?

"How do you like that, yeah. He doesn't even come out to greet us," complained Deidara while stepping up the stairs and coming to a stand still on the front deck.

"You know what this place lacks?" interrupted Kisame. The shark-hybrid really wasn't too bummed that Itachi didn't roll out the red carpet for them. "A woman's touch," he groaned.

"Pft!" spat Deidara. "Women loathe you far too much Kisame-san, you're the reason I couldn't get laid back in that village, un. You just had to break her in the process of your fun, yeah?"

Deidara just then paused outside the front door to double take. "_Hmmm_?" he could have sworn he saw a pair of eyes looking at him just then. Arching a curious eyebrow, the clay master put a digit to his lips then began to creep along the side of the walls. Slowly…very slowly he crept.

"What the hell are you doing?" inquired Kisame, also questioning the blonde's sanity. Though he had to admit, seeing Deidara crab walk was quite the amusement.

Deidara stopped just at the end of the wall, only to pull a kunai from within his cloak. Signaling that something was on the other side to Kisame. The shark-hybrid only stood posing his aggravation. He would rather be inside drinking than out here probably about to witness the fillet of a stray cat.

"Deidara-san, you seriously lack any sense," stated Kisame.

A sadistic grin spread from ear to ear, the clay master held up his kunai. Mouthing a countdown from five, he then jumped around the corner at one, kunai held in a downward stabbing position.

Kisame heard a womanly scream - "Wah! Itachi?" Just when he turned that corner, the blonde found himself staring into the wicked sharingan eyes of a stone faced Uchiha. Stumbling back while clutching his chest, Deidara practically felt his heart against his rib cage. "Wha- why were you hiding, yeah?" he stuttered.

"…," looking down to blonde, blue eyed clay master, Itachi's arm was noticeably leant out to the side, half concealed by the wall. "I wasn't hiding," he corrected in a monotone voice.

Kisame looked to his partner, it had been over a month since they last were face to face. Unlike Kisame and Deidara, the Uchiha didn't look to have acquired any new scars or bruises. The shark-hybrid was nursing a dislocated shoulder from his adventures in the Waterfall Country. While Deidara's face could say enough about his adventures in the Cloud Country.

"Get up Deidara-san, I just had the deck swept," the Uchiha said coldly. He was never amused by the clay master's childish acts. It was hard enough hearing him constantly bicker with the late Sasori, about what fine art truly was.

Realizing he was spread-eagled on the floor, the clay master brought himself up. Kisame stepped forward to merely give Itachi a acknowledging nod, before he set off towards the open manor door. But he paused. Itachi still had his arm leant out, half of it concealed by the house walls.

"Is something bothering your arm, Itachi-san?" Kisame arched an eyebrow, because Itachi was now giving the wall a rather stern look. "I asked if something was wrong," he repeated.

"Besides the fact Deidara and you are present," the Uchiha's head strictly turned so his sinister glare was upon the other Akatsuki. "…No," Taking his hand from the wall, Itachi stepped around the corner so he could enter the manor with Kisame.

Watching the two other men disappear into the shadow of the home, Deidara lingered outside still a bit baffled. He could have sworn he saw someone else peeking from around the corner. "Maybe it was nothing…yeah?" the corner mocked him. "Then again, maybe it was something..."

Making sure Kisame and Itachi were out of sight, he once again attempted to slowly walk back to that corner when- "Deidara, need I persuade you to come and join Kisame and I?" Itachi's cold voice sent serious warning to the blonde. It seemed that the Uchiha hadn't gained any patience since the last time the Akatsuki were together. Turning on his right heel, Deidara walked off.

Kanna exhaled heavily, as the pressure and burn from the Uchiha's hand on her faded. When she had been simply feeding her curiosity by peering around the corner at the two other Akatsuki, Itachi had come up behind her. He had been so quiet… like a predator stalking prey.

Just in the mere blink of an eye, Kanna's frame had been spun around, only to have her eyes meet with darkly sensual sharingan. That expressionless gaze, face of ice surrounded by black lace…he just simply gazed at her. But as the blonde crept on the other side of the wall, Itachi simply slammed Kanna's back into the hard surface so she was out of sight.

Now with the true Akatsuki members inside the warm home, Kanna crept back in through her bedroom sliding door. The complement, slap across the face, being pinned to walls and that willow tree… Kanna once again began to question the Uchiha's twisted acts.

A pale hand leant up to touch between her breasts where the Uchiha practically palm struck her. These dangerous encounters, they left her… light headed. "I feel sick."

* * *

a/n: ugh, another one cleaned up. Onto the next! Lol


	8. mirror image

_"Sit and ask yourself 'what have you become?'"_

Now the theatric play of an upcoming cold rainy night began to present. The sun was quickly bleeding behind the mountains and just letting its streams of dulling light reach over the tall pine trees of Earth country. Still the muscle stretch of an autumn storm lingered up in the darkening sky, whispering out cool breaths and chilling whatever it touched.

Kanna had avoided the dining room since Deidara and Kisame arrived hours before. Dealing with Itachi had been difficult enough, now with two more Akatsuki she didn't think dealing was going to come easy. So now the girl cleaned up after the clay bird's hurricane of wind. Sweeping leaves out of the rooms, closing windows, and picking up what little things fell from their cabinets and tables. 'Why are they here?' Kanna thought, picking the dirt from underneath her short and bitten down fingernails.

"Did you see his arm, yeah?" questioned Deidara. He poured himself some more sake and settled the bottle down on the dinner table with a _clink_. Itachi had disappeared, leaving the clay master and shark-hybrid by themselves for the moment.

Kisame held the sake cup to his blue lips as he quirked an eyebrow with lazy interest. "No. Why?"

Deidara's blue eyes closed as a grin spread from ear to ear upon his feminine face. "He has a wound, its bandaged and everything, yeah. Been a while since I've seen the invulnerable Uchiha Itachi, sport around a wound," there was a hint of amusement in the clay master's deep voice.

At first Kisame gave Deidara this look, as if he just spoke blasphemy. But then he peered over his shoulder, making sure the coast was clear and Itachi just didn't decide to pop up out of the wood work. After a few seconds, Kisame looked back to Deidara with a smirk. "Heh, maybe he's losing his touch. Our leader did give him a most ridiculous mission."

"Seriously. The Tsuchikage made damn sure that the entire Haru clan was exterminated, un. Pft! Itachi mine as well been chasing around his own shadow."

A second of intent listening for any footsteps before they both chuckled heavily. Kisame had known Itachi for quite a while now. And for the first year they were partners, it was like walking on pins and needles. Such an infuriating mystery he was. Sure Kisame had respect for Itachi, but it wasn't as if he _actually _enjoyed the Uchiha's company. You're on your toes in the presence of a snake, treat it with respect or suffer its venomous bite.

Just then, the blonde and shark hybrid turned around as two rice paper-patched doors slid open. There standing was Itachi. Blame it on reflex, but Deidara and Kisame's eyes shot right at the wound the Uchiha sported on his left shoulder.

Itachi did notice this and those sharingan narrowed dangerously. "What?" he challenged. The other two Akatsuki clammed up immediately then went back to their sake. Itachi had no intention of telling Deidara and Kisame the truth of his bandaged broom stick stabbing. The humiliation was far too overwhelming on his part.

Still standing while the other two sat, his glare had yet to relinquish. Deidara stupidly dared to peer up from under long blonde bangs, just trying to get another good look at the bandages. "Deidara," began Itachi in that drone sounding voice.

The clay master looked up, "Hmmm?" he gave an innocent smile.

"The Haru clan, you did not serve in their annihilation," Itachi's sharingan were bent in some interest as he looked upon the blonde Akatsuki member. "Though I'm sure in your more loyal years to Iwagakure, you had dealings with them personally."

Deidara blinked a few times. Where was Itachi going with this? "Of course I did, un. Back then the Haru clan had an alliance with Iwagakure, yeah."

Itachi went silent. Those thoughts of his brought up the female Haru, seeing her in the traditional robes of a shrine maiden, broom in hand. For two weeks he kept tabs on her before making his move. The files they didn't sum up to what he saw, to what he witnessed now within the manor.

Kisame watched as the Uchiha rounded the dinner table and paused before taking a seat. Hand gliding inside the folds of his Akatsuki cloak, Itachi pulled something out and tossed it on the table. It skid along the wood and stopped right between Deidara and Kisame. Like a thrown bowl it spun and spun making a hollow sound. Till suddenly it stopped.

Those fishy eyes of Kisame's stared down to the middle of the table; an expressionless kabuki mask sat now with its white surface decorated by intricate black tribal markings, staring lifelessly at the Akatsuki. "What the hell is that? Hunter-nin?" Kisame questioned.

After Itachi had hypnotized the Haru siblings, he went inside their home to retrieve some of their belongings. No, Itachi didn't lower himself to stealing any of their valuables. Which in fact, they had many. But he just thought it was necessary that he brought along the girl's shinobi gear.

Itachi had merely brought this mask out from his haul in order to get a few questions answered. Like Kisame, he theorized that the kabuki mask belonged to a hunter-nin of Kusagakure. Only thing was, it didn't have a grass glyph in the middle of the forehead. Also, it just wasn't the usual style for undertaker squads.

From across the table, Deidara was transfixed on the hollow stare of the kabuki mask. A distinct hole lied right in the middle of the mask's forehead. As if it had taken a bullet. Deidara's delicate fingers twitched atop the table surface, until they began a rather noisy tap. "Kegare," he scowled.

Both Itachi and Kisame stared at the clay master.

"The translation of that is pollution or dirtiness of a soul, like sin…" Itachi told in softly.

Deidara's lip curled. "Kegare. They were an elite squad of Haru clan members, yeah. Similar to hunter-nin in some ways, but their main purpose was to collect information and data from other country shinobi, only to empower their own clan," he paused to take the mask in hand. "Though I didn't stay in Iwagakure long enough to have a hand in their clans destruction, I was able to witness them and their lusty appetite for blood and knowledge when they were alive, yeah."

"They got the title: Criminal Clan, for some reason," said Kisame. Though how did Itachi get his hands on this mask if the clan was wiped out? Just an artifact lying around maybe. The shark-hybrid thought this over before taking another sip of sake. "Itachi-san," he said.

The Uchiha's crimson eyes were firmly planted on the kabuki mask in Deidara's hand. At the moment he was trying to connect the Kegare mask to Haru Kanna. He had ventured into what he thought was her bedroom. Where he found that mask in an undergarment dresser drawer, wrapped in a black silk. Had she kept it as a memento?

Though Itachi soaked in the dark waters of his mind, he could hear Deidara clear his throat and suddenly speak. "Did you seriously acquire those two Haru Clan members, hmm?"

Silence midst the three. Easing back into his chair, Itachi kept this expressionless look as his sharingan eyes eased slowly closed. "Somewhat." he answered in a murmur.

Kisame and Deidara dwindled on Itachi's vague reply for a while. Until their puzzled faces became a form of annoyance towards the Uchiha. So folding his hands together in front of his face while allowing his elbows to rest upon the wooden surface of the dinner table, Itachi's sharingan eyes opened to a half lidded state. He began to explain that yes, in fact he had captured both Haru. Only thing was the informants had failed to keep up-to-date information on them.

Youngest of the remaining Haru had been forbidden to use any form of jutsu by his eldest, while the eldest gave up all shinobi life together, preferring to live as a shrine maiden on her families wrecked estate. Even going so far as to ignore the glares, harsh words, and hatred being stabbed at them from the other villagers of Kusagakure.

A good hour had passed and finishing his story, Itachi realized he, Kisame, and Deidara had worked off quite a few bottles of sake. With his last bottle dry, Itachi pushed the cup away. He would look to Kisame and Deidara who peered at each other a bit baffled by the Uchiha's story. That was until Kisame gave a smirk, and a deep stomached chuckle soon followed.

"What a predicament you're in, Itachi-san. While Deidara-san and I acquired more than willing candidates for Akatsuki, you're stuck with a frigid woman," Kisame wiped a blue hand across his face, removing the sweat from his cave-man like brow.

"Too bad you can't kill her, our leader wouldn't be too thrilled in knowing she just went to waste, hmm."

Kisame waved in. "Deidara-san, don't sound so ungrateful. A woman in our rankings is just what we need. Though if she claims to be a priestess, I could do with a little dance from her right now," with his blue complexion a deep purple instead of a light pink, Kisame grinned at Itachi. "How about it Itachi-san? Bring in this Haru, I wish to see if she measures up to Akatsuki liking."

Deidara rolled his eyes and stuck out his tongue. "Correction, _your_ liking, yeah."

"…," The Uchiha didn't appreciate their fun making. Though they all were a bit more free spirited with their drink coursing along their veins.

Now night had set upon them. This cold breeze lapped at the glass of the windows. Soon after, one could hear tiny tapping across the manor roof. It became louder, more full and a complete sound. This roar of rain was soon accompanied by the growl of thunder off in the distant mountains which surrounded Earth Country.

The shark-hybrid once again pressed the matter of the Haru to Itachi. Itachi's shoulders had been slumped somewhat, as he rested his chin in the cups of his hands. That Akatsuki cloak blanketed his firm form and the collar was bent and peeled down around his neck.

"Itachi-san, will you not call her in?" inquired Kisame.

"…," still the Uchiha was silent, an unrelenting gaze of impassiveness. He noticed the shark-hybrid's smirk. Those teeth protruding from under his top lip almost like picket fence. "There is no need for me to call her," Itachi calmly stated. Body still as stone, his sharingan eyes snapped to the paper patched doors. A sliver between them, as one heavily lashed brown eye widened with fear at his sight.

"Hmmm?" simultaneously the clay master and shark-hybrid turned in their chairs. Their clashing set of sights soon noticed what Itachi had meant by not needing to call the Haru in.

Shoulders rolling back, Itachi leaned into his chair and lied his hands across his lap in idle. A smirk graced his face. "Kanna-san. Please, come and join us."

"Uh!" Kanna's throat had run dry, caught in the act of sneaking about and listening in on their conversations. Her body trembled as her one visible brown eye had been captured by the stare of sharingan. The Haru wanted no trouble right now, not when there were two other Akatsuki. Not when all three had been drinking too much and too long.

Sliding the doors open slowly, Haru Kanna eased herself into a bow. Hands pressed into the wooden flooring her nose was tickled by the tumbleweed like lint. "…."

Itachi quirked an eyebrow at her sudden outburst of respect, 'she must be scared now.' Realizing that there were two more Akatsuki in the manor, and it was true, Kanna didn't know what the other two were capable of. While with Itachi, she figured out enough to stay alive.

"Well, it sure is difficult to judge her if she's eating floor already, yeah." Deidara shifted in his chair. Like the instinct of natural prey, Kanna quickly reacted to the sound and began to inch herself out of the dining room. "Oh no you're not, come here girl."

"Ah -" Once again the female Haru was at the mercy of a man. It was heart breaking, even stomach churning how both Kisame and Itachi just sat there staring as the clay master held her by one wrist up in the air as if she were a rag doll.

Kisame spoke in. "It appears that she's fearful of us. What did you do to her Itachi?" he faced the Uchiha with a sadistic grin. " Nothing too cruel…though, I'd expect nothing less from you."

Itachi said nothing, he just watched as Deidara struggled to get Kanna on her knees and look up at him. A cruel child like grin was spread on the clay master's face as he succeeded in getting the Haru on her knees, he would then cup her chin roughly to direct her stare to his.

"Very nice, yeah," said Deidara. He bunched Kanna's cheeks up. Her lips pressed together and eyes squinted, the girl felt humiliated.

"Deidara. So?" Kisame quirked an eyebrow at the struggling gir. Usually with members of a clan passing down a blood trait, if you were familiar enough with them, by appearance alone you could pick them out of a crowd. Like an Uchiha walking through the hustle and bustle of a village, look for the crimson of activated sharingan. Or, the onyx deactivated form.

Kanna's face was still scrunched up by Deidara's hand and his purple nail polish played off of her pale skin as the metal of his ring poked. "Hmmm…" he hummed, looking over the girl's features. "Oh yes, Kisame-san. Such elegant ebony hair, marble white flesh, soft jaw line…" Deidara's pink, saliva drenched tongue ran over his lips, tasting the last burn of sake. "She is definitely a Haru, yeah."

As soon as the blonde finished his sentence, Kanna noticed he was wearing a struck through forehead protector just like Itachi. But one difference, one big difference. He was a missing-nin from no other village but Iwagakure. Kanna's body went rigid, she could hear the distinct pumping of blood in her ears so suddenly. Her eyebrows furrowed, the Haru sucked in air through her gritted teeth. Almost like the growl of a cougar, "R…r…release me, you brute!"

Deidara raised an incredulous eyebrow. Even Kisame did. But Itachi was excluded from the shock, he had already witnessed her foul temper before. Dropping the girl to the floor, the clay master looked down to Kanna with a sadistic grin. "Quite a temper…yeah. The Haru were known for that, and their beauty, hmm. So beautiful that their men looked like total fags."

Itachi's eyes had narrowed. Deidara's child like insult towards Kanna's clan wasn't necessary. But he wouldn't voice his opinion. Less his Akatsuki comrades think he was defending the foul tempered girl. So shifting in his chair a bit, Itachi brought his Akatsuki cloak closer to his frame. A cold breeze had found its way in, and it chilled his flesh.

Kisame watched the girl crawl across the floor, once again trying to go back out the door. She almost made it to. But Deidara was a little too quick for her.

"Beautiful and foul tempered, yeah. You know what-" Deidara put this dramatic winded expression on and shook his head, blonde locks just falling across his scope sporting eye. "It's just not good enough for me, un. One last test." Gesturing with his hand to Kisame, the shark-hybrid took a few seconds to catch on.

"Heh, of course," chuckled Kisame. Putting a hand in his cloak, Kisame withdrew a kunai.

"Why thank you, Kisame-san," the clay master put his attention back on Kanna after taking the kunai. This time, he had her back pressed into his chest, as he held both of her hands behind her back. The girl didn't know what was going on, so she was even more afraid.

Now Kanna was shouting, "Leave me be … leave me be!"

She watched as the large blue brute laughed in Itachi's direction. Itachi showed in no way that he was finding this entertaining. And in no way did it look as if he found this acceptable behavior or not. Kanna wanted him to do something. She wanted him to help her. But that cold sharingan stare had her inwardly berate herself for such a stupid wish.

"Hold still girl, hmm," Deidara stuck his tongue out as a smile was still spread across his face. Getting his arm around Kanna's neck, he held the kunai just above her collar bone. He cackled when Kanna started to inhale and exhale quickly, still trying to struggle away. "Just one cut…"

In Deidara's arms, Haru Kanna resembled that of a faerie having a little tantrum. Her legs would kick out, almost knocking the dinner table over. "Leave me be … leave me be!" She still shouted. While Kisame was still giving a booming laugh, Itachi was unresponsive to her cries.

Mind all a flutter with the burn of liquor, the clay master was finding the entire struggle to be rather entertaining. "What's wrong grass kunoichi, don't appreciate the touch of a rock shinobi, yeah?" Kunai gripped by his long slender fingers, he'd press the sharpened metal edge against Kanna's pale flesh.

"Huh!" Kanna grunted as Deidara snapped her body to straight posture. That was when she felt the familiar weapon split the flesh just above her collar bone. Her teeth were grit as the warm scarlet blood began to spill and soak into her chihaya top.

Soon she was tossed to the floor. Landing on her back, Kanna felt far too embarrassed to look up at Itachi. Had he not been pointing out that she was weak, or rather Kanna was weak because she let herself be so. So there she was lying there, face beet red from the exhaustion of struggling like some fearful rabbit. Hair all napped and stuck to her neck, entangled with blood and some sweat. She felt foolish.

"Kisame-san, look carefully at her wound," said the clay master. He didn't bother to wipe Kanna's blood off of Kisame's kunai, he just tossed it back dirty.

Catching the kunai in mid air, Kisame watched as Kanna tried to fix her hair. Bringing it all to rest on one of her shoulders, Kanna unknowingly exposed the cut. "I don't see anything too out of the ordinary. She bleeds just like us-" he paused. He now witnessed right before him, her wound heal instantly. No hand signs, no special medical jutsu. It just happened by itself. "Interesting…" he gurgled.

"Oh yes. That was the entire reason it was so difficult for the Tsuchikage to wipe the Haru out, yeah. Didn't matter how many times you stabbed them, kicked them, broke their bones," Deidara's blue eyes fell on Kanna again. "They just kept healing, and popping out of the ground like pretty daisies, yeah."

There was a spitting up sound, as the shark hybrid practically choked on his sake. "Daisies?" Kisame raised an incredulous eyebrow towards the clay master, questioning his choice of words.

"Yeah you know, those white flowers that grow everywhere, hmm. They're pretty don't get me wrong but white, un? Honestly they're not my favorite flower, yeah. I prefer…" there was some silence. Deidara blinked a few times as he even noticed Itachi staring at him. "WHAT?" he questioned in a frustrated tone.

Kisame shook his head and merely smirked. "And you put down the Haru men for looking like fags. If I looked and spoke of flowers like you, I wouldn't be talking."

The clay master's eyebrow twitched. He absolutely despised when Kisame and Zetsu made their dim-witted little remarks towards his appearance and gender. They were low blows. "And all this coming from an apparent sea monster, yeah?" The clay master then puckered his thin lips together, making a fishy face.

"Why you little-!" Kisame pushed his chair out and slammed his sake glass down. It shattered then and now it appeared a bar brawl was about to take place. Minus the bar of course. Probably the only person who cared about that happening was Kanna, because she would be the one forced to clean after the mess.

Suddenly, Itachi pushed his chair back too. Deidara, Kisame, and Kanna all looked to the lone person who stood in front of the table as silence fell. Itachi had his eyes eased shut, lips pursed together. Now the Uchiha felt a headache coming on from all the loud noise. From Kanna screaming, to Deidara and Kisame's usual foolish spats.

She watched him walk towards the paper patched doors. Floating more than walking, his specter like waltz. His fine impassive face dotted with those sensual crimson sharingan. Kanna was shocked when she felt her body spasm then, while the blood rushed to her cheeks. For that brief second, a fantasy intruded her mind. 'I feel sick again…'

Just about to pass through the doors with his massive headache, Itachi once again felt that cold breeze blow against his skin. His cloak had been snagged slightly on his chair armrest, allowing his left hand to be exposed. Between the pinch of his fingers, was the kegare mask.

Haru Kanna's eyes widened. A mix of fear and absolute astonishment. "How did you…"

Itachi heard the soft coo of Kanna just before he shut the doors behind him.

Quickly cleaning up the shattered sake glass as the two other Akatsuki passed out in the living room, Kanna hurried out of the dining room and through the rice paper patched doors. Closing them quietly behind her, she felt this sense of safety warm her chest up. A girl didn't truly know the terror of loneliness, till she was locked in a home with three men. Murderous men, add that. That just put the icing on the bad karma flavored cake.

Now she faced the long walk to her room. Pale lunar light seeped in through the sliding doors and brittle window panes, giving her some guide down the corridor. Kanna's feet became inaudible steps as her form passed across the floor. That unsettling autumn air stayed close to the ground, chilling her toes and ankles, making those steps just as numb as they were quiet.

'He has it! How did he get it? Why does he have it?' Corridor lighted by that pale blue of night, Kanna paused outside her assigned bedroom. Adjacent was Uchiha Itachi's sleeping quarters. Head cocking to the side slightly, Kanna's eyes brought in the detail of his door. There appeared to be no lights on. No movement, not even a shadow scurrying.

Somewhere a window was open and the breeze had fly away hairs dance across her heart shaped face. A swell of loneliness rose up Kanna's throat with stomach acid. She swallowed it all down then watched as her fingers stretched out to touch the paper material of the sliding doors.

It had happened so quickly, from being outside his room to now being inside. Peering around in a timid state, Kanna had located Itachi's dark cloak spread open over the surface of his empty bed. 'I'll have to hurry. He could be back any minute,' even the voice in her mind was hushed.

From a lone and empty closet, to a chest full of drawers, Kanna searched high and low for the mask. Her search extended a good ten minutes before she began to get impatient. It was obvious by the way drawers were shoved back in place and little growls of anger passed her lips.

Eyes wandering to and fro, she then realized a place she hadn't looked. 'Somehow I don't see Itachi hiding anything under his bed…' but it was worth a shot. Kanna knelt down and brought the bed's skirt up. Taking a look underneath, all she saw was the other side of the room and a dust bunny.

"It's not here!" she whispered harshly.

Suddenly there was that feeling, that horrible sense of knowing someone else was in the room with you. Kanna was still knelt down, but frozen as if hoping the boogie man wouldn't see her if she didn't make any sudden movements. "…," Silence. Just the inhale and exhale she let from her nose.

"I don't remember giving you permission to come in my room," Itachi's cold voice caused the air to go still.

So, she had been caught. Itachi stood in the doorway of the bedroom, peering down to the girl's back as she was knelt down peeking under his bed. He was bare foot, wearing his dark shinobi pants. Shirtless, there was the shine of water slick across his chest and shoulders. White towel in hand ruffling his dark locks, it seemed the reason Itachi hadn't been in his room was because he went to bathe.

Looking up so suddenly the girl knocked her head on the bed frame. Face turning a beet red, she really hoped he didn't see that display of klutz like behavior. Kanna rubbed her scalp tenderly, muttering curses.

There was no lie that would get her out of this situation quick enough. Nor could all the prying in her brain come up with a mediocre white lie. "What else?" the girl questioned in a severe tone.

"…," The Uchiha didn't make any sudden movements in body or expression. At the moment Itachi kept Kanna in his sight, just before turning to shut the doors behind him and go over to a chair where his clothes were neatly folded up. After a few moments of towel drying his hair, Itachi pulled his forehead protector from his pocket and placed it on his folded clothing.

Was he ignoring her? It seemed right after the other Akatsuki got to the manor, Itachi had become if possible, even more remote in manner. Kanna would have thought a little company from your comrades would have boosted anyone's mood. She was obviously wrong.

Still on the ground, there were no words spoken at first. An eerie silence as Itachi just stood there in the corner of his room. His head would lean back somewhat, peering to the ceiling. "Leave," he said.

Kanna's hands trembled a bit, hearing him tell her to leave. The Uchiha didn't look like he wanted any confrontation right now. So by asking her to simply leave, he wouldn't have to deal with her haughty attitude and yelling. "Please," The girl stood up now, keeping her eyes on the shadowed form of Itachi. "Just give back the mask, and whatever you took of mine." The tone she used was calm. She had to be careful with her words. Kanna simply wanted her things, nothing more. Not to anger Itachi, not to endure another slap across the face.

He eased his head to the side, one sharingan sight on her raised form. So, she admitted the mask was hers. And he really was pleased she didn't start yelling. Of course the Uchiha didn't show much emotion, so Kanna couldn't tell if her acts were appreciated or not.

Itachi would leave the rest of his clothes on the chair and go over to the windowsill. Gracefully he sat himself down, raising one leg up so he could rest his bare chest against his leg. Kanna watched every movement he made and she didn't make a sound. "First, explain to me why you value it so much," spoke Itachi, not looking to Kanna.

"It…its value to me?" she repeated weakly. He spoke of the mask.

"Yes. I'm somewhat interested," replied Itachi in that vague tone.

Why was he interested? Kanna really wished he wasn't. She would rather forget what it meant to her. Though, that was the entire reason she kept it around. So in no way would it be possible to forget. Heart sinking down into her stomach, Kanna felt this strong shame grab at her throat and pinch.

Itachi had noticed Kanna's silence. Ever so slowly his head turned so he could look at her. Even though she was on the other side of the room, he could see that expression, that soft idle look. It was familiar to him. The man parted his lips. "Are you ashamed?"

Inhaling deeply, Kanna didn't want to be in his presence. But a part of her did want to be in this room, speaking with him. Why? Because Itachi gave of this aura of regret, it was alluring to her. Kanna bit her chapped lips, "…yes, I am."

Between them there was an understanding of regret. It could be felt, but it wasn't going to be acknowledged by either of them. "Come here," Itachi's words beckoned Kanna to come closer.

The girl would obey. She scuttled across the room to pause a foot away from his sitting frame. Itachi didn't understand why he wanted her company, but he did prefer it to Kisame or Deidara's. Only because she was a mystery he was determined to solve. Also it had been a very, very long time since he was in the presence of a woman.

That soft silence once again descended upon the both of them. He didn't feel like talking, but indeed he was in the mood to listen. It was just Kanna clammed up. But why was he so interested in her past? It was bugging the hell out of him that was for sure.

"It is a reminder," Kanna suddenly said.

Itachi's eyes eased shut as he heard her finally speak. Right now he could feel her body heat, as she stood next to him. Hear her breathing softly, smell that scent which sweat nor dirt could take away from any woman. Inwardly, Itachi would berate himself for sucking attention from some girl he barely knew.

Moon spilling white light, there was the tint of blue from the shadows outside. Kanna's eyes were on what the wide window had to offer. Too afraid to peer at Uchiha Itachi, even too afraid to look at her own feet because there could be an accident of looking up to the man who actually wanted her attention, wanted her company.

"During the time I was listening to your conversation with your comrades," she began softly, "the rock shinobi explained the significance of that mask to you. Really, I was associated with the Kegare squad. I did all those horrible things and I did them without any remorse," Kanna's voice became low, husky as she spoke to the window.

"A sign of greed and selfishness is what that mask represents to me now. Because that's exactly how I was at such a young age. Comrades and family meant absolutely nothing to me since they only seemed to get in the way of my goals," she remembered how disrespectful and abusive she was to her own blood. It made her feel lowly and evil.

Itachi still sat, listening intently. But not showing that he was intrigued by her words. What she was saying to him was that she in fact had been that person he was sent to acquire for Akatsuki. Once again Itachi noticed the girl go quiet.

Kanna could not comprehend the reason why she was giving out her past to him. May it be the night air or the loneliness she felt without her brother, but here she was. "It wasn't until after the destruction of my clan, my family, that I realized how precious they and life truly were to me."

Wasn't it always like that? People really don't appreciate what they have until it's gone. Either blown away in the wind or splattered across the pavement. It's almost cruel how someone has to learn from that. Everything you thought you had known becomes a total lie once you discard the truth and what sticks by you through thick and thin. Regret, remorse and unable to take back the time.; too bad in the real world you just can't rewrite that script, push rewind and pause it on your favorite scene before the villain makes his final move.

Her words were heavy now. Running along Itachi's form and making his skin crawl from the familiarity. Almost like a bucket of ice cold water down his back, Itachi felt reality bite at him. Everything Kanna was saying brought him back to that night, that night from which he took a massive leap into the world without loved ones. 'Attachments, they only weigh you down.'

Every single morning, evening, and night Itachi was haunted by that one night. But he never spoke of his feelings because in fact the Uchiha was far too ashamed to. It was his decision, and he had to admit it had worked. Everyone could now witness his strength and power. Nothing was holding him back. But also, nothing was holding him to this world. So he was strong, feared and such. What did that bring him?

"Itachi-san?"

Nothing. He was living, but not really. Peering out a window at everything he could have had, but chose something else.

"Itachi-san is something wrong?" It was that girl's voice again. It was Kanna. She was tapping at his window. In more than a few ways, she was similar to him. Only thing was, instead of being cold and cruel like he was, angered at his own sins, Kanna was trying to mend her life in any way she could. Now he understood.

Itachi slowly came out of his dark world, feeling the warmth of flesh on his bare shoulder. Peering to the small pale hand, his eyes trailed along the arm, collar bone, and neck till he got to Kanna's youthful face. She was looking at him with concern. To imagine someone looking at _him_, Uchiha Itachi, with true undeniable concern.

"Should I leave now?" she inquired.

"…," The Uchiha just peered up at her. Never before had he wanted to talk to somebody so much. It was almost frightening that it was her because he hardly knew her. Yet, Itachi felt like he did know Kanna. "If you want to, you can leave."

Taken aback by his reply, the girl stood silent. Thankfully Itachi hadn't been looking to her when those doe like eyes threatened to spill tears over. It worried her though. Did she cry because she missed her family and wished to rewind the time, or was she only feeling sorry for herself?

Gesturing over to a corner where a chest of drawers stood, Itachi pointed out the bag which held her Kegare mask, among a few other things. He saw her walk over to it, pick it up, and head towards the door. But Itachi didn't want her to leave. Really, he wanted company but in no way had the courage to say it. After all those words, the girl was just going to leave him. Yet, he understood why. In no way did Itachi tell her anything about his past. She among everyone else around the Uchiha didn't know he suffered.

"Kanna-san," Itachi's voice was soft, and this time he peered to the girl directly.

She paused and stood between the doors. Her back faced him. "Yes?" she replied, bag in hand.

If he hadn't already drank enough sake to knock a squad of shinobi out, he would have asked her to bring him some. Fist clenched and concealed by his left leg, Itachi no longer felt that horrid throbbing against his brow. "Tomorrow, continue your story," Itachi witnessed the surprised expression Kanna gave him when she turned to look at his tired from, "with me."

A moment of silence and pause before she could comprehend what he just said, he actually wanted to hear her story? About to accept as kindly as she could, Itachi turned away from her once again. As if displaying a cold shoulder or saying they exchanged enough words for tonight.

"Good night, Itachi-san," Kanna bowed her head somewhat. The bag in hand she shut his bedroom doors behind her. In the cold dark corridor once again, the girl felt for her own door and quickly took refuge. There were no words to explain what she felt after getting some of that off of her chest. Painful at first to think back on only the small details. Shameful. Yet, once it escaped her lips, she felt so much better. Better about being here… almost.

So as the night would carry on, Itachi had yet to move from the windowsill. Hot breath fanning out across the glass, the details of the outside world became obscured. Alone again, sore from the shackles of heavy regret; this was why he was silent. It was why he didn't feel showing emotion was important. Because what emotion did he have, if he could slaughter his own clan?

Strong hand leaning out towards the fogged glass, Itachi leant out his index finger. He traced a circle, another, and a rectangle beneath it. _'A sign of greed and selfishness is what that mask represents to me now. Because that's exactly how I was at such a young age. Comrades and family meant absolutely nothing to me since they only seemed to get in the way of my goals…'_

Sharingan eyes stared to what he drew upon the window. An etching of that which fanned the fire. His clan symbol, the Uchiha clan symbol. _'It wasn't until after the destruction of my clan, my family … that I realized how precious they and life truly were to me…'_

Yes. Itachi had realized that as he stood upon the gates of Konohagakure those years ago. No longer with friends, family, he was lifeless. Over the rising sun waited Akatsuki, his power and the way to witness his full capabilities.

"What have I become?"


	9. absurdity

_"Sometimes it's easier to just laugh it off, ya' know?"_

That great lunar orb in the heavens had descent now, taking sanctuary behind those lofty mountains, concealing its pallid countenance with impenetrable green of forest and hillside. The rising sun had pushed its girth across sky and had her brother moon rest now. Blood red streets alike the scarlet rays, intertwining clouds of gold and pearl set the scene for Haru Kanna's revelation.

Just moments before she had been informed that the Kegare had lost contact with her elder brother, Haru Kyuusai. Her form was rigid she was quiet for the first time all night. Now as the sun rose casting a red dawn, her mask truly depicted her emotion. Blank and unable to feel, not sure if what she heard was lie or mistake. If she dare believe the worst.

"Kanna-san?" called Tsuta. But the adolescent was unresponsive. Standing there obviously in contemplation, knowing full well that if her brother was indeed dead, she would take his place as the Kegare commander. Yet a hindrance: what kegare? What Haru, if any but themselves stood now after the second wave of rock shinobi.

Tsuta observed his cousin's reaction to the news he brought. Kanna was blood he ought to be affectionate towards. Except how could you be concerned for someone so unkind, someone so selfish she would sell you out for her own life? You couldn't, however Tsuta tried for the sake of Kyuusai.

Aware of her cousin's voice, Kanna was little by little beginning to realize no one was on their side. Kusagakure had turned against the head clan, the head clan which presided over them like a Kage did for its elite country. Such deceit, so many lies could only be heaped atop one another for so long. What else could the Haru clan expect but betrayal. 'No, I refuse to believe that Kyuusai has met his demise. Not after all his battles, not in this minor set back. Just a loss of communication … right - RIGHT?'

In wait for so long, Tsuta began to grow impatient. There was so much more he had to tell her. Important words which couldn't wait. Tsuta's hands shot out then taking hold of Kanna's shoulders and shaking her violently. "Please, listen to me Kanna-san! There are less than a few of us now," he looked over his shoulder, out to the torn fences and burnt homes. What a catastrophe.

"Stop … don't shake me," she said in a distant voice.

"You must listen, cousin! I must tell you how the rock shinobi are doing this. I must tell you that the weapon they use is not made of metal, it is no secret jutsu," He felt the earth quaking beneath him. A loud rumble was getting closer and closer.

Kanna peered out from her hollow mask, witnessing Tsuta's frantic body language. He had sustained such great wounds. Sweat and blood mixed upon his face. He fought hard, Tsuta had fought hard for their dishonorable clan. 'Why can't I hear him?' Just his arms flailing around and inaudible words. Kanna just stood there unresponsive.

"We didn't understand it at first, but Kanna-san the Tsuchikage must have made some sort of alliance with _him_. Our clan has lost to some sort of science, they're using -!" Those would be Tsuta's last words to Kanna, his last words to anyone before an enormous boulder came tearing down the road and flattened him.

A spray of blood blasted on Kanna, soaking her. "H-h-huh!" her breath came out in a shivering fit. Warm blood had been sprayed all across her body, splattered along the white of her kabuki mask, red spurts on her hands.

"No…no - NO!" Finally, fear got a hold of her and without a second thought she raced off down the streets, ducking down every time she saw a rock shinobi make his or her way across the grated streets.

How the mighty do fall. However, Haru Kanna had yet to hit true rock bottom. "Nii-san!" A voice which could only belong to a frightened little girl rang out. She called for her elder brother, she needed his guidance and for once in a long time, Kanna wanted to be held by someone. Probably growing up in such a manner as she did, rich, powerful, a never questioned clan, had poisoned her mind for the future.

Morning still young, the light gray kept Kanna concealed as she sprinted across a cobblestone path. A quaint home stood waiting. She pushed her way through the thin wooden gate, almost stumbling over a forgotten broom. In this frantic fit, Kanna was able to realize that she saw none of her uncles, aunts, any of her cousins. 'All of them … gone?'

It was hard to remember now how her home looked this morning, any normal morning really. Yet she could tell what she saw before her was a far cry from what she knew for years. Stumbling atop her home deck, Kanna almost slipped in a puddle of rain water. "Wh-what's this?" No, it was not rain water Kanna almost slipped in. It was blood. Following the stream of it with her eyes, blood lead to a heap of clothing and an odd fleshy colored fluid, slopped across the deck so carelessly. It was as if someone instead of just dying had melted.

No more, she didn't want to see anymore. Though as she ran to an open door, Kanna only found more of these melted bodies. Liquefied tissue of what once was her family. So what did this mean for her brother? Could one of these horrible sloppy messes be him? Kanna refused to believe that to be possible.

Through the front door passed the kitchen, turning a corner at her mother's bedroom. "Nii-san!" Kanna screamed. "Where are you? Please - Nii-san!" She heard nothing at first, just the last explosions outside. Oh how the house smelled. It was really humid inside. Kanna felt sweat beading beneath the coagulated blood which adorned her skin.

A loud _thump_ and another loud _thump_came from their tea room. Spinning around with her chest swelling with a strong hope, Kanna tore to the other side of her mangled home. Over furniture she would struggle and fight, till getting to the tea room and slamming the doors open with such great force that they splintered across the polished floors. "Nii-san!"

A putrid steam hovered neck high as she entered the tea room. Kanna wanted to hold her nose, the smell was so horrid. Like cooked flesh, boiled bones, animal carcass laid out to bloat in the sun. "Brother where are you?" she desperately called. Right now she was fighting mind over body, '…don't throw up, don't throw up.'

In the haze of early morning steam and drawn curtains, Kanna carefully stepped around inside the room. She could barely see. Giving a constant call to her elder brother, Kanna once again felt hope as a table to her left flipped up. A small shadow ran towards her, she then felt a tackling force.

"Onee-san!" cried Kouji.

Kanna's little brother had thrown himself on her. The girl went stumbling backwards and her shoulders hit into the wall. A clatter was also heard as her mask fell to the floor. Kouji's pudgy little fingers clasped onto her hips. Frantically the young Haru kneaded his sister's waist line, as if trying to be certain that she was real. Kanna looked down, face now exposed. But the Haru Kanna in this time was a far cry from the one being held by Akatsuki.

"Little idiot!" Kanna's right hand lashed out as she slapped her younger brother clean across the face. Kouji fell backwards over the table, holding his cheek as it stung with white hot pain. "How dare you frighten me!" she spat. She almost thought it had been her older brother.

Kouji sat up weakly, tears streamed down his face. Pink and puffy were his eyes and nose, snot just barely gathering above his upper lip. "Onee-san!" he cried in a pleading tone. Kanna treated him badly. Every day she denied blood ties with her less than prodigious little brother and always she gave her affection to Kyuusai.

She pushed herself off the wall and looked down to Kouji with such loathing. "Where is Nii-san - where is he I said!"

"Onee-san, I'm hurting," He held out his arms, fingers opening and closing, begging for her to hold him and make it all go away. Just this once, during a time of such loss when family was truly needed, couldn't Kanna be charitable enough to give him just the faintest of affection?

"I don't care," Kanna lashed out viciously and picked him up by his right arm and shook him around like a dog with a rabbit in its mouth. "Tell me where Nii-san is!"

Kouji's face scrunched up as he felt such hopelessness dangling in mid-air. He knew why his sister despised him so. Because he was weak, Kouji was not like his older siblings. For some reason, it was as if his sister could smell fear and weakness. Kouji must have reeked like it to get such treatment. More tears fell, probably induced by the vice grip his sister had on his arm. "H-He's over there…" Kouji squeaked weakly.

Her sights snapped away from Kouji then ad as if he hadn't existed at all, Kanna's hand opened and his arm went free from her hold. Kouji hit the ground and rolled up into a little ball, witnessing as his sister, middle child of three, went rushing to the far right corner of the tea room.

Haru Kyuusai. He was a true prodigy. Their clan held such pride when he came back from successful missions. On early mornings of his coming, they would wait at the bridge. Only in order to see him give a cheerful wave of greetings to the village he dedicated his life and skills too since the day he became genin. Now he was Jounin wearing the Kegare kabuki mask of that expressed joy and he was lying in a thick puddle of blood dead.

"BROTHER!"

Kouji's form shuddered at the blood curdling scream of his sister. She had stumbled upon Kyuusai's slowly dissolving body. He watched her kneel down beside Kyuusai, holding a expression of complete terror and confusion. "No, no, no…" Kanna chanted.

How could this happen? It made no sense to her. Kyuusai's body was dissolving feet first. Already his legs had becomes pools of slop mess. Yet, as she examined the body further, Kyuusai was covered in open wounds. Slices, lacerations - cuts, absolutely everywhere! It looked as if his body had lost the will to regenerate. "Nii-san," Kanna choked. Her raw emotion was covered by long bangs, she almost felt ashamed letting the walls see her cry. "Why didn't you stop bleeding?" her fingers went out to touch his hair, "WHY? WHY DIDN'T YOU STOP BLEEDING NII-SAN?"

Like a bucket of ice cold water down her back, it hit Kanna. If the Tsuchikage could do this, if his rock shinobi could destroy her clan so easily, what chance did she have? Really, Kanna was asking herself that question at the sight of her elder brother's body. Kyuusai was unbelievably strong, so what chance in hell did she truly have going up against his killers?

"Onee-san?" choked Kouji. His voice was soft and weak. Barely nuzzling his hands against Kanna's back, she looked away from Kyuusai's body in disgust. Kanna was in unbearable pain.

Kanna cupped her face and sobbed brutally. It was the first time Kouji ever saw her cry. The first time he ever witnessed his sister show any emotion towards the loss of love. And it was for Kyuusai. Not because her little brother was wounded, but because Kyuusai had fallen in battle like a true shinobi.

Little ninja boots stepped closer to Kanna. Kouji's heel snagged a kunai though and when Kanna turned around to look at him severely, he thought it was just because the sound startled her. Yet the severe stare died down and now Kanna's eyes filled with fear. Shadows moved along the outside of the doors. Tall shadows, ones with voices and the sharp points of kunai in hand. Rock shinobi, and Kouji knew they were the ones who killed his elder brother. They probably came back to raid their home. As if desecrating the house with their putrid breath wasn't enough!

"They did it, Onee-san! They were the ones who killed brother!" barely a genin and now Kouji picked up a discarded kunai. He held it in his little hand with a strong grip. A hate was boiling inside of him. It didn't matter if the rock shinobi were taller, stronger, smarter than him. He'd slice their knee caps open if he had to.

Kanna's lips parted and she whispered weakly. "Little brother," He was all she had left now. Kyuusai was dead, her entire clan had been massacred. 'What's left … whose left but us?'

Kouji eased himself into an offensive stance. Kunai in his right hand, sweat began to roll down his thin neck as the shadows got closer to the wide open door. "Onee-san, we'll fight them together," started Kouji. "For brother, for the clan … and for our honor!"

Such big words for someone so small. The shadows drew even closer, moving along Kanna's reflective doe brown eyes, still wide with fear. Still doused in thick tears. She couldn't do this anymore. Kanna couldn't bear to lose another loved one. Her sanity had suffered enough for one night. In some ways it was sad that Kanna now realized Kouji meant something to her. As he stood there, waiting for the rock shinobi to get in range … Kouji stood far braver than her now.

"My Nii-san's death will be avenged!"

Kouji pulled his right arm back and took aim at the door, and just seconds before the rock shinobi appeared in the door way, Kanna had suddenly rushed forward and wrapped her arms tightly around his small frame, causing the kunai to drop from his hand and clatter to the bloodstained floors. "Onee-san?" he shouted in disbelief.

Kanna shook her head. "RUN!"

* * *

An almost delicate hand crept closer and closer towards an unsuspecting bread box that sat atop the kitchen counter. "Hmmm…" Deidara hummed. The clay master lifted up the lid and peered inside. To his joy a lemon muffin sat wrapped in a thin plastic and enveloped with a holy glow. "Sustenance!" Taking the soft muffin in hand, Deidara began to knead its spongy form with a rather disturbing passion, all the while his upper lip gave a twitch of anticipation.

He could really recover from a long night of drinking and brawling. Unlike say … the blue brute who was entering the kitchen right now. Kisame's eyes were rather swollen and his mouth was dry and cracked from all his loud mouth breathing last night, and also from praying to the porcelain god.

"Morning," gurgled Kisame.

"Whatever," Deidara replied quickly. He was just concentrating on getting food in his stomach. Opening his mouth as he stood in front of the kitchen counter, he could already taste breakfast. Just as soon as Deidara was about to bite down into the soft pastry, he was so wrongly robbed of it. "Give that back, yeah!"

Kisame stared to the lemon muffin in his grasp curiously, loathing how it teased his hung over gut. "I wonder if I can keep it down?" Fish like eyes half-lidded with this drowsy gaze, Kisame opened his mouth exposing those sharp saw like teeth. In one huge gluttonous glomp, Kisame swallowed the muffin.

"What the hell!" growled Deidara, pointing a purple nail polished incriminating finger at him. "That was mine. You and your colossal trap always savage my food. I hope you fucking toss that up too, hmm!"

With this rather satisfied grin Kisame sat himself down on a stool in front of the counter. All the while Deidara referred to his breakfast napping as a total injustice and that he didn't appreciate the disrespect. Kisame kneaded his forehead then. "Could you just shut your face? This kitchen is fully stocked shelf to shelf and you're complaining about a butter muffin that was actually a bit stale, if you ask me."

"It wasn't butter, for your information, hmm."

An assortment of Kanna's possessions were arranged tidily on her bed alongside the bag they were brought in. Eyes in a half lidded state she peered down to them with a somber stare. The Kegare mask, standard shuriken, kunai, and a kunai holster. Of course there was one more item and Kanna's fingers reached out to take hold. It was her gray cloth hitai-ate depicting the Grass symbol. It was a bit difficult to see the village glyph though, simply because the metal plate of the hitai-ate was dulled over with neglect.

"It has been so long since I've held this…since I've worn it," Kanna proceeded to run her thumb tenderly over the metal piece, leaving a fresh metallic streak in her digit's wake.

Once the sentimental moment was over, the girl stuffed the items in a bedside drawer before putting her attention on what she was going to wear today. Her chihaya sadly could not be saved with a simple hand washing. Blood never came out easy, nor did cellar dirt stains. So Kanna tossed the robes over her back with a frustrated groan. Now she just stood in a towel still damp from her bath.

But on further inspection of Itachi's thieving bag, there still seemed to be a few items left inside. Kanna picked the bag up and shook it upside down. The girl was taken aback. Two of her outfits fell out, neatly folded and all. One outfit consisted of a black tank top, a buttoned cloth corset, and a gray skirt, with a pair of black elastic shorts. This had been her Jounin outfit back in Kusagakure.

The second outfit, to her personally, had a bit more meaning. It was a pale rose colored, single layered dress robe with a maroon sash. Really this outfit had been something she just wore around the house doing chores, or when she wanted to go to the market place. Kanna turned the sleeveless dress over so she could once again witness why this outfit had sentimental value.

A family crest lied in the fibers of this dress's back. A young white lotus blossom was the Haru clan insignia. Two green leaves were spread as the blossom's head poked out just between them. Kanna softly smiled down at it before getting ready to put it on. But she paused to give that bag of Itachi's one last good shake. Just in case anything else was in there.

"There is something else in here," said Kanna, in a thrilled tone of voice. She proceeded to shake the bag a bit more wildly. Suddenly the bag dropped out its remaining treasures. "What the-?" Kanna's right eyebrow twitched and a sweat drop formed. Absolutely dumbfounded. All blood rushed to her cheeks now.

"You have to be kidding me!" the girl gawked. Her undergarments had just fallen to her feet. This was beyond mortifying. It was true embarrassment. "Now I'm far too ashamed to even thank him!" Kanna made a painful face before kneeling down to pick up her bra and underwear in shame.

After getting dressed, brushing her hair out and the humiliation in knowing Uchiha Itachi knew what her underclothes looked like, Kanna walked down the long halls and headed for the kitchen. Last night would not be easily forgotten, even though a few things were a bit unclear to her. For example why Itachi was even remotely interested in her pathetic life. Kanna theorized that probably Itachi had been given orders to find out all he could about her. Yet, that seemed a bit unlikely. Uchiha Itachi didn't seem like the type of man to pry into someone's life for a thrill.

'That silence. He appeared to be burdened…' Kanna thought that over too. During the time she had been spilling out her memories to him, something seemed to have disturbed him because he hadn't responded for almost a minute, even after she voiced her concern.

"And he even asked me to continue," the girl thought out loud. Her lips became warm then and Kanna's index and middle finger began to trace over the authenticity of this smile which curiously surfaced. There was no explanation for the smile that was Kanna's stubborn thought.

She heard someone in the kitchen and realized she had yet to make Itachi breakfast. Strange enough, it did not bother her that Itachi expected her to cook for him. It wasn't as if it was out of her way or anything. She usually cooked for two. Then again after last night, Kanna just felt a bit more inclined to do favors for the Uchiha.

Kanna entered the kitchen quietly with her eyes set on the ground. She walked to the fridge and pulled out a wire egg basket along with some vegetables. Bringing her head up, Kanna had expected to see Itachi sitting at the counter in his usual impassive way. But she was sadly mistaken.

"…," Deidara and Kisame looked up to see Haru Kanna sending them this seriously scary, acidic stare. It appeared that she got up on the wrong side of the bed. "Morning," Kanna forced out. Turning her back to them strictly before bringing out a large bowl and whisk.

Deidara looked to Kisame and Kisame looked to Deidara. The clay master was pretty hungry considering Kisame ate his breakfast and somehow with a hangover, Kisame had dug up his appetite. "Woman, do you cook?" he questioned.

"…," the girl said nothing as she cracked an egg against the side of the counter. Really she just wanted to snap back with a '_no_, I just like cracking eggs and watching them sit in a bowl.' Kanna cracked another egg, but with a bit more force this time.

Deidara arched an eyebrow at Kisame. The clay master had been reminded that he had been a bit rough with the girl last night during his drunken fun, maybe that's why she was giving them the cold shoulder. "Woman, I'm talking to you!" Kisame growled, "I asked you if you cook, now answer me or I'll go over there and persuade you to speak."

Kanna sighed heavily and pushed the egg shells together. "Yes, I cook."

The blue skinned man then slammed his hand on the counter and smirked. "Good. Then you'll prepare Deidara-san and I breakfast. I want six eggs scrambled, with bell peppers, mushrooms, and onions. Make sure it's well down also, I despise runny eggs," Kisame spoke to Kanna in a rather rude tone. A tone you really wouldn't use in asking a favor.

"A simple please and thank you would be appreciated," Kanna suggested bitterly under her breath.

Kisame snickered at her and turned to Deidara. "What about you, eh?"

The clay master watched as the Haru began to chop bell peppers on a cutting board. She was done with one pepper in no time and then moved on to silently dice mushrooms. "I'll just have mine plain, yeah. Please and thank you."

She looked up then, hearing the blonde speak in a calm tone, even adding in please and thank you. Kanna didn't anticipate that. Hadn't he just last night been trying to cut her? Deidara glanced at Kanna with this cocky grin.

Whisking the egg and throwing in the peppers, mushrooms, and even the onions in, Kanna poured the scrambled egg into a hot black pan. Letting it cook while she went to collect some dishes, the girl could hear the other two Akatsuki talking about her. Or rather, Kisame was making typical man speech.

"Heh, I prefer my women to be a bit taller," he gurgled. Those greedy fishy eyes of his roamed over Kanna's frame as she stood on her toes to reach the third shelf where the plates were. "Slimmer too."

Kanna's face turned a bright pink when Kisame was obviously poking fun at her weight, as if she wasn't even there. It was really rude and uncalled for. Wasn't Kanna doing him the favor in making him breakfast fit for an elephant? He shouldn't be talking. But now Kanna felt a bit self-conscious. The girl wasn't obese, at most she was probably ten or fifteen pounds over weight.

Deidara eyed Kanna with a curiosity and then smiled as she gave a frustrated little huff while doing battle with the high dish shelf. Really he didn't know what Kisame was talking about. He hadn't seen a girl as good looking as Kanna since god knew when. "Nah, my women need to have some meat on them, hmm. Voluptuous curves like an hourglass, as if sculpted by generous hands," Deidara's smile curled into a smirk when the girl had to resort to using a chair to help her get down the plates.

Kisame blinked a bit curiously at Deidara. The clay master was watching Kanna like a cat would watch a mouse trapped in an empty fish bowl. "You love your women I won't deny you that Deidara-san."

After the girl conquered those high shelves with her arsenal which consisted of a chair and spatula to extend her reach, Kanna turned around to see a odd sight. Deidara expressing his fascination with the female anatomy by gesturing with his hands. Grabbing at his chest and such, she saw both Akatsuki suddenly stare at her as she approached the large oven again. Kanna peered to them a bit timidly now. Their eyes had first been set on her own, till sadly…they moved a bit down south.

Kanna gave this incredulous look before curling her lip in disgust. So it was proven, all men are swine. Doesn't matter if they're gender bending or species-bending.

Large omelet being displayed in front of Kisame, the former mist shinobi didn't thank the cook. He just gawked at her ample assets. He hadn't really taken notice of them last night since she was wearing those horribly conservative miko robes. He gave this ugly, sharp toothed grin.

Kanna cringed at Kisame's teeth while setting down Deidara's considerably lighter plate.

"Thank you," said Deidara with a gentle smile she didn't trust.

Pausing mid-step. "You're… welcome," and with that Kanna meant to walk away and make her own breakfast. Probably just a quick pastry and coffee. Alas, she should have known every good moment has to come to an end.

A hand suddenly shot out from beneath an Akatsuki cloak, only to take hold of the unsuspecting grass kunoichi. Kanna shot a glare from the corner of her eye, to see Deidara's left hand wind up and shamelessly grab her rear. Kanna's posture straightened up as she shrieked. "Not exactly the body of a dangerous kunoichi, yeah?" The clay master gave her this playful look as his one visible sapphire sight stared.

Kanna flushed pink. "How dare you!" She spat, slapping his greedy hand away. As if last night hadn't been bad enough, now it was turning into sexual assault. Kisame watched with amused interest while chewing.

Top of his hand relishing a bright red, Deidara shook out his limb and some of the hot sting from her strict slap. He hadn't meant to offend her. (Amazingly.) The clay master merely meant to give a straight forward pass to Kanna. That he found her attractive, she perked his interest, etc. The blonde weakly scowled as he rubbed at his tender flesh, all the while knowing Kisame was inwardly laughing at him.

"There is no need for hostility, hmm," groaned Deidara.

Obviously he could not fathom that Haru Kanna was beyond primal courtship. Sure as hell, the old club to the head wasn't going to work either. "Excuse me?" shot back Kanna. "You do not treat me like I'm some common street whore!"

Deidara then furrowed his eyebrows with a frustrated confusion. So Haru Kanna wasn't a common street whore? "Then what's the protocol, hmm?" he casually volleyed.

Kanna's jaw dropped and her face relished a hot pink now. Protocol? For what? It seemed Deidara had took her words quite literally when she said she wasn't some common street whore. She seethed at him. "There is no protocol for that kind of attention," she spat back. "And there is no price. Even if there was, you could never afford it you superficial jerk," Kanna watched as Deidara pursed his lips, taken aback that she saw his next question coming before he could utter it.

Deidara observed the dark haired girl as she went towards the kitchen exit and stormed out in a flurry of pale rose and ebony. It was obvious that he had put the grass kunoichi in a foul mood. "Think I came off a bit too strong, hmm?"

Next to him, Kisame had cleaned his plate and now chugged down a glass of water. He would look to his comrade with an expression of pity. "If she was a prostitute, no."

Slouched down the clay master picked at his food and swallowed some egg before lowering his head down on the table. Defeated and rejected. He had a deep thinking expression on now. Usually when he grabbed a girl he didn't know too well, they giggled and peered coquettishly to him. Grabbing the Haru had a totally different outcome.

Kisame poked Deidara's shoulder. He couldn't believe how every time Deidara was rejected by a girl, he'd go into some self-pity mode. "Hey, do you plan on finishing that?"

"Go ahead, hmm," Deidara pushed his plate towards Kisame.

"Seems that girl only holds respect for Itachi," snorted Kisame. "Now if I was you and she pulled that little _respect me_ act, well…" a menacing grin surfaced, "I'd show her a thing or two."

The clay master now tapped his index finger roughly on the kitchen counter. He realized a more precise game plan was in order. Kanna was the _other_type of female. Not the easily seduced type that dropped on all fours when you mentioned a few compliments. "Hmmm…" Unfortunately for the clay master, she was the type you had to put some effort in for. On the positive side, Deidara liked a good challenge. He then began to laugh to himself before standing up.

After the kitchen fiasco, Kanna had taken refuge in her room. Bizarre how she discovered herself wondering where Itachi was. Hands down she preferred his company to those two swine she left in the kitchen. Already she could tell Deidara was going to be tough to deal with. He was annoying, almost little-boy annoying. As for Kisame … well, she wouldn't want to be left alone with him that was for sure. His appearance said enough about what type of person he was.

Kanna lowered herself on the bed. All through the morning she hadn't seen Itachi. Where could he have gone? "Maybe he left…what if he was deployed?" She questioned out loud in a fearful tone. Her stomach twisted up at the prospect of being left in the hands of Deidara and Kisame. Though the Uchiha was unpredictable, he obviously had more honor than the other two. Itachi would not grope her or make disgusting passes her way. Then again … she somehow found that a bit disappointing.

_Why was she here?_Kanna had to remind herself this for some reason. The girl was here because she had to be. Because the Akatsuki was an organization of high ranked criminals and they had Kouji a leverage. Today she planned on asking Itachi about her brother. She wanted to know if it was possible for her to see him. Just to make sure he was safe.

"Yet even now we have nothing to go back to," Kanna suddenly heard a soft tapping at her bedroom door. Rolling off the bed with some minor difficulty, she smoothed out the wrinkles on her yukata. Really she only expected one person to want to see her right now. She made a dash for the door before stopping herself with a strict halt. A thought occurred, 'I'm a little too eager.'

With a more at ease pace, Kanna went to her door and slid it open with a set mind. Thinking for sure that this time she was going to see Itachi. "You!" The Haru's eyes went wide when she found the blonde Akatsuki standing in front of her door. "Oh no," Maybe she shouldn't have called him a superficial jerk? Kanna had forgotten her place in this manor, with these three men. Now in a timid state, she tried to slam the door shut before last night did a rerun.

"Wait-" shouted Deidara. He put his foot forward so Kanna couldn't shut the door completely.

"Just leave me alone! I don't want any more trouble from you," she would place her weight on the door, hoping she could at least crush Deidara's foot a bit so he would have no choice but to withdraw. "Go away!"

"Ho- you got some strength, hmm," the clay master cringed as Kanna compressed his foot like an aluminum soda can. Both eyes began to swell with tears and he bit his bottom lip, determined to get the door open. "Don't be so hasty, Kanna-san. I'm only here to-" He struggled against her surprising force. "To apologize."

The door crashed open then. Deidara blinked a bit, attempting to fully digest what just happened. He had actually been using some strength to keep the door from slicing his foot off. Kanna backed away from him apprehensively.

Deidara put his arms up as if surrendering. "To be honest with you, I don't remember anything from last night, yeah. Dear Kisame-san reminded me, so please accept my apology." When Kanna did nothing but back up slowly from him, he sighed a puff and scratched the back of his head. What did he have to do for her to trust him? "That is what you want, yeah? For me to apologize, hmm."

Not stupid, she was suspicious of his apology. From the bright sapphire sight that was visibly scanning her form, to the other eye which was hidden mysteriously behind his golden locks, Deidara didn't seem like the type to apologize. Deidara stepped forward then - 'did he just stick his lip out at me?' Kanna exhaled in defeat. Hands falling to her sides now, she decided Deidara meant no harm towards her.

Allowing him entrance to her room, Deidara began to poke around. He should have known Itachi would distribute himself and Kanna the largest rooms in the manor. Giving Kisame and him the leftovers. "From the trampling I heard, you were really expecting someone else, hmm."

Kanna had relocated herself to the other side of the room for safety reasons. "Yeah, I was expecting someone else," the Haru confessed softly. She would eye Deidara, questioning his true motives.

"Well, _who_ were you waiting for?" He questioned.

The girl's mouth went dry then as she now felt herself a bit uncomfortable. "If you just came to apologize to me, then I accept your apology," a desperate attempt to change the subject of conversation. "I'm sure the shark man is lonely without you, so please leave," Kanna then gestured towards the door with her hand.

Deidara gave a chuckle then but didn't make for the door. Slender hand gliding along his neck, he would then flick his long bangs which covered that one mysterious eye of his. "Considering the fact that you obviously weren't too thrilled to see me," he placed his index finger to his chin and Kanna saw the glint of a ring. "And since no one likes Kisame but his own mother," A grin creased across his face as he came to an interesting conclusion. "You were waiting anxiously for our dear Uchiha Itachi, hmm?"

Kanna's heart-shaped face flushed a light pink again. "Do you…" the girl didn't know how to phrase this without sounding too concerned or too desperate."Do you know where Itachi went?"

"Pft!" Scoffed Deidara. "No one cares where that emotionless bastard went off to, yeah. As long as his brooding-self is out of this manor. Just watching his stone sour face annoys me, yeah."

Kanna did not understand. Wasn't Deidara one of Itachi's comrades? Yet he spoke of the Uchiha with such disrespect. She watched as Deidara came towards her. "Judging by how you so colorfully addressed him, you're not very fond of Itachi … are you?"

He would stand in front of the girl now, crossing his arms over his fishnet adorned chest. Sapphire sights set on Kanna's heart-shaped face, he put on a carefree act on."Of course I'm not fond of him, un. He's boring, doesn't put in any effort to lighten a mood, and he's one hell of an unpredictable prick, yeah," Kanna's eyes narrowed with uncertainty. "Believe me Kanna-san, he'd kill you if you stepped out of bounds just once, yeah."

With that said, Deidara turned around to feed his interest with the details of her bedroom. Leaving Kanna a moment of thought to herself All the words Deidara used to describe Itachi, were right on the nail. But she begged to differ on one and one alone. That he would kill her from just stepping out of bounds once. That night of her flight for escape, Itachi hadn't killed her. She had stepped way out of bounds then too.

"Itachi he is a very …" what was the word she was looking for? "Interesting," told Kanna.

A sway of blonde hair as Deidara turned around to face Kanna again. His smile faltered.

"The way you say that, it makes it sound like you've taken a shine to him…"

'Taken a shine … to Itachi?' she thought in heavy disbelief. 'That's impossible, it's totally absurd.' Yet she hadn't lied when she said Itachi was interesting. In some strange way the Uchiha was fascinating and kept her wondering. Soon that curious smile surfaced.

"Hey Kanna-san," he grabbed her attention then. "Who does this remind you of, yeah?"

"What the hell are you doing?" Kanna inquired while crossing her arms impatiently. The clay master didn't seem to be leaving anytime soon.

She would witness as Deidara leaned his back up against one of her bedroom walls and crossed his arms strictly over his chest. He pressed his lips together then, just before killing down his child like features to replace them with an unfeeling expression. An eerily accurate impersonation of none other than Uchiha Itachi. "What the fuck are you staring at? Can't you see I'm trying to be boring over here," deadpanned Deidara. Though the wording was quite out of character for Itachi, it sounded so like him.

"…," The Haru gawked at Deidara as if he were insane.

The non-existent facial expression, strict posture, and monotone voice down and everything! To the Deidara's horror, he almost thought Kanna possessed no sense of humor. Because she just stood there, lips pursed and her doe eyes wide.

"Pft-" her cheeks puffed out and a laugh almost escaped. "That's mean…" Kanna bit her bottom lip to hold back her amusement.

Face brightening up now, he leant a hand out to cup Kanna's left shoulder in a friendly manner. "It's okay to laugh, yeah. It's funny." It really was. But last night was still lingering in the deep garden of her mind and she didn't want to insult the moment she had with Itachi.

Nonetheless, a small smile surfaced on Haru Kanna's face. She smiled for Deidara's determination to make her laugh, and even thinking back to the kitchen fiasco, it had been a bit amusing the second thought around. As silence came, Deidara interrupted with a rather serious enquiry.

"So, you're going to stick this out, hmm?"

Kanna had been peering out her window now, out to the depths of a forest caught in a limbo season. "I have no choice," told the girl. "Your organization has my little brother. If I don't obey, his life will be lost. As will my own…" Her voice had lost that softness, and became rather heavy and bitter.

He heard her sudden disdain. "Take it as a compliment that our leader chose to recruit you, yeah. Though you don't show it much now, I'm sure Kanna-san that you're quite the formidable force."

Kanna ran her fingers through her own dark tendrils. From root to tip her digits slid, getting caught in pesky knots. Deidara once again found himself ogling at her. She was nearly as tall as him, but much shorter than Kisame and Itachi. He could understand how someone could doubt her. Taking the opportunity, he placed a friendly hand on her back.

"No offense Deidara-san, but I'd rather not discuss my future plans with you," she felt his hand on her back, but did nothing since it was harmless bodily contact.

For some reason she didn't feel comfortable talking about herself to him. Even now Kanna didn't know what she was going to do. Sure she could say she was going to go through with Akatsuki, but what if her body didn't let her do so? Could she throw a kunai anymore … could Kanna muster up enough courage to fight?

Her head lowered with a sigh as long bangs would just curve beneath her soft jaw line now, and Deidara was ever so watchful. 'I'm not going to be able to see this through,' In her own little world again, Kanna felt warm breath tickling her ear.

"You're really a sight for sore eyes, hmm," Deidara cooed to her slyly.

"W-w-what?" she stuttered.

Kanna felt a totally surprising sensation now. It seemed during the time she had been in deep thought a ghostly hand had taken hold of her rear again. Gritting her teeth in anger, right eyebrow twitching, a little vein throbbing atop her forehead, she could hardly believe this. 'He apologizes only to grope me not even ten-minutes after?'

Deidara had this satisfied look on his face as he drew himself closer to Kanna. He innocently stared out the window, as if his hand had a mind of its own. "Let me express Kanna-san, that I look forward to your company," He cracked a smile.

_SMACK!_

A blow right across the face had been Deidara's punishment for being a horrible (yet skilled) pervert. He stood looking absolutely dumbfounded. Also, a nice red hand print was steaming on his face. Even though Deidara was in pain, he had been delighted on other terms by Kanna's brash nature.

He exhaled heavily. "I'm certain it was worth it, hmm."

Kanna's hand stung from slapping Deidara, so she stood with an aggravated expression. "You little pervert. Touch me one more time and I'll break both your arms and dislocate your face!" Surprising how quickly she could lash out threats. Her eyebrow twitched some more as Deidara nursed his cheek.

Just then both heard the bedroom door slide open for a third time. They would turn around simultaneously to see sharingan sights peering over the high folds of an Akatsuki collar. It seemed that Uchiha Itachi had come back from running his errands.

"Itachi-san," Kanna looked a little surprised for some reason.

Deidara looked to Itachi with a smug expression. "All right Kanna-san, I'm sure Kisame is quite lonely without my company, yeah." He gave a little wave to the Haru before setting off towards the door.

Deidara about to walk out and Itachi now walking in, the two Akatsuki met shoulder to shoulder for the briefest of seconds. And from the corners of their eyes, sapphire and ruby met dead on. For whatever reason, an unexplainable tension manifested itself as they passed each other by without exchanging a single word to the other.


	10. dot the eyes

_"Catalyst of a dejected executioner … take me someplace nice."_

All the laughter and soft hearted joking for smiles trailed after the buoyant footsteps of Deidara. The clay master had left on swift wind when Uchiha Itachi decided it was his time with Kanna, his moment to converse with her and maybe be that unusual leech once more. Of course the clay master had no idea Itachi and Kanna had tolerated one another long enough to share a moment of heavy memory together. While the kunoichi of Kusagakure provided faint details of her past self, Itachi sat in his brooding nature atop a windowsill. His ear went raw from all the fact twisted so pretty in the wrappings of a girl's existence. His own past did not come so attractive. It did not come wrapped up in a package of multi-colored paper labeled with a vibrant Christmas tag saying: Someone else killed my life. Oh no there was no one to blame but himself. Itachi was his own horrid gift giver. All tied up with weathered Konohagakure news paper titled: Deranged Uchiha Son massacres entire clan … but one.

One could feel the featherlike feeling just get purged from the room as that dark haired man stared down to the petite young woman. To show sharingan to her because he could not deactivate them, or rather he would not deactivate them because every person he stared upon was a potential threat to his emptiness which he deserved to wallow in forever more. Or at least … till that avenger came around the tombstone corner. A threat to his emptiness though … especially this one. One young woman who found out in the worst way, that her renowned name was written in metallic red ink, on a scroll … in the hands of a head terrorist. Now Kanna was in the clutches of his reluctant minion, maybe here to just pester him.

"What did he want?" inquired the Uchiha. His voice had the same tone, that prolonged suffering, a monotone and maybe such a bore to someone more enthusiastic about life.

She had witnessed his specter waltz as he came upon her and the blonde Akatsuki. In some strange way, she almost felt as if she got caught doing something bad. "Nothing much…" she casually answered, not really seeing the significance of his question.

Hot coals where soft optics would have been preferably placed, glared over the high black collar of Itachi's Akatsuki cloak. Right now he didn't want to hear his question cast away as if it meant nothing. "Let me rephrase that question," he lolled sharingan shut with his cold tone, "Explain to me why he was in here with you." It was a demand for the detailed word instead of the hope for an easy answer.

To him Deidara had no business with Kanna. That clay master in no way was going to screw up Itachi's mission with his carefree ways. Even the fact that Deidara and Kisame decided to sit and watch his assignment unfold, was a matter of extreme annoyance. They were not needed unless their leader wished to make the Uchiha's miserable life just a tad more down. 'As if that were possible,' he scoffed to himself.

Standing around 5'4 to the man who reached a fair 5'9, Kanna did not appreciate his tone. So she narrowed her eyes then, warning him that she was not in the mood for him to be cruel. Especially not after last night which had been such a relief, even Deidara's perverse little acts were a relief to Kanna. Her glare commenced.

"…," Itachi glared back.

And unfortunately for Haru Kanna, his own death stare crushed hers like a bad habit. Hands neatly folded in and lips pressed together, she gave up in defeat. "Deidara-san just came in to apologize to me for last night … and, this morning. We just had a normal conversation." Really the female Haru thought the clay master could have apologized for the twelve 'o'clock arse grabbing too. She grimaced at the memory.

In mild interest of what possible thing Deidara could have done to Kanna this morning, Itachi didn't want to seem too interested. Less raise an eyebrow or two and have his innocent curiosity be thought of something more. So as Kanna stood obediently, Itachi's eyes began to wander about her room. It was clean and orderly, the way it was when they first arrived.

That's when he noticed a notebook laid out on her bed. It was open exposing two pages totally covered in writing. From scribbles to squiggles, it was almost difficult to decipher word from drawing. Kanna noticed Itachi staring to her notebook with the eyes which soaked in detail instantly. In a bit of a fluster, she scuttled over to the bed and flipped the notepads cover. Itachi's frown deepened since she broke his comfortable stare. Yet his mouth curves were hidden behind the elevated collar.

"…," he turned about now, and began to look from wall to wall. As if not knowing what to do, what to say … or was something else bothering him? Cause once in a while he'd glance over to a clock mounted on the wall, its arms just ticking away life.

"Where did you go?" Kanna asked, whilst clasping the front of her yukata together, afraid her bust would spill out. Really the girl hadn't cared till Kisame made his really rude remark about her weight, during that man speech of his.

Itachi noticed this demure little feature of her, lightly pinching the fabric of her deep collar together, hiding what cleavage he was allowed to see. Of course he had taken one or two opportunities to look, he would not deny himself that blast of testosterone. "…out," he answered.

All to suddenly, he took another glance at the clock as the large hand began to point teasingly at a hour pending late afternoon. 'We'll need to start as soon as possible…' He hated to be rushed, especially in a situation like this. Having to fix a broken thing, it was troublesome with a time limit.

He was just standing there, glare set on a clock. Kanna didn't know how to start this conversation out, he for sure wasn't going to kick a word in. Kanna fingered the fabric of her maroon obi, just trying to utter up the words. Make sure they weren't too harsh, not too intruding. "Itachi-san…"

A flash of black and red as a cloak snapped in the air. Itachi had went over to the drawers which she had placed her clothing and relocated her old weaponry in. "Wait -- what are you doing?" He would open the top drawer and began to sift through her Jounin uniform and undergarments. Kanna looked shocked and she flailed her arms. "Excuse me, does privacy mean absolutely nothing to any of you?" She squawked.

Purple nail polished finger pinched the soft lacy fabric of underclothes before finding what he desired. "Would you just put that stuff down, its not yours!" She scolded, hurrying over to his side. Kanna's right hand went out to grab Itachi's shoulder. Instantly on touch he shrugged it off. But the stubborn girl went at him again, not really enjoying the fact he shrugged her off.

One last push from the grass Kunoichi to Uchiha Itachi, before his hand went out to grab her wrist, immobilizing her. His eyebrows raised, "if you truly plan on stopping me, you will need to put actual effort in … though, I doubt even that would help ."

Attempting to recoil her wrist back, Itachi's grip was as firm as ever. "Let me go," she said strictly.

"Make me," that unbelievable impassive facade stayed stern. Repeatedly Kanna would try and take her wrist away, swishing that black mane and biting off rough sounds. Only to have her effort towards freedom be in vain. Right now he was obviously demonstrating how much strength he had over her. If she was going to be in Akatsuki, the kind of strength she was displaying now, definitely was not good enough.

With his free hand he held up Kanna's shuriken pouch and kunai holster. "There will be no more fooling around, Kanna-san. I did not bring you to this estate to just gossip and lay about," head cocking to the side slightly, he wondered if what he was saying was sinking into that head of hers. It must have been, because Itachi would inwardly smirk as Kanna shot him a glare, not liking how he referred to her time spent, as just laying about and gossiping.

"You wish for me to listen to you," declared the girl, still hanging from Itachi's hand. "But its obvious you drown out my words. I distinctly remember telling you I was no good for your organization. I have not performed a set of hand seals in years!" finishing her complaint Kanna tried to rip her wrist away from him again.

With one hand on her and the other holding up the weaponry, Itachi's expression softened to a small degree. How could anyone be so devout to forgetting their shinobi skills, as to not play out a Ninjutsu in years? Itachi could not comprehend this. "Well," a loud ruffling of cloak sounded off as he maneuvered his arm to keep the struggling girl still, all the while his form stood strict. "…today you will execute your first hand seals in years then."

"No, there is no possible way I could…" Her voice was shaking with serious doubt. But as those brown optics set on sharingan, the severe stare of Itachi's eyes said she had no choice. Now all Kanna could hope for was a miracle. It seemed during last night and this morning, she had forgotten how serious this was. No where to turn, she was alone. No one was coming to save her. No one would ever think of such.

Itachi now witnessed her sudden change in attitude. That haughty resistance could protest no more, it would only be a waste of air. "Come," Regaining his height the Uchiha released Kanna from his grasp. With that he would make his way out of her bedroom and down the long hall. He left the girl once again by herself, to succumb to submission at the stone feet of Akatsuki.

"What do I do now?" she questioned weakly. Yet there was no one to answer. Forehead and palms pressed against the a wall of her room, Kanna eased her eyes shut feeling that heavy defeat sink in. There was no escaping this now, any sensible woman would have decided by now it was time the female Haru got with the program and stopped whining. Kanna had a responsibility. To keep her younger brother safe. "I need too…" she cringed, "Do this for him."

Shoulders back and head held high, the Uchiha made his way down the long hall. The explanation for his absence this morning, was because he got word from Kisame that Zetsu needed to speak with him urgently. So after secluding himself out to a thicket, he met with the plant beast like man. Of course Zetsu was interested in the kunoichi from his old village, but Itachi killed down the needless questions and ordered for Zetsu to get straight down to business.

It seemed that the two Akatsuki candidates Deidara and Kisame brought back, had already initiated training in Akatsuki protocol. There skills were sharp as ever, they did not even look back to their villages when offered the chance of great power in exchange for their services. Itachi snickered at such. Of course, no one would decline the chance of power. Well, almost no one. 'She's difficult…' The grass kunoichi was. His mission had yet to go further. Zetsu warned Itachi that the leader was not very ecstatic about this. They needed Haru Kanna as soon as possible. Also, her initiation task was already decided. Yet Zetsu was not inclined to explain her initiation task to Itachi. So the time limit assigned to Itachi's mission was not appreciated, and not knowing what actions Kanna had to perform to officially join Akatsuki bothered him too. Strange enough.

Along the stone of the courtyard he would walk. Another cloudy late afternoon. Thankfully autumn was Itachi's preferred season. There was just something about a cusp of life and death he found appealing. Itachi then unbuttoned his Akatsuki cloak, exposing that purple fishnet which laid elegantly to his sculpted body. He knew what he was going to have to do. Kanna would not like it, and in some ways he knew he'd feel guilt for forcing her past back upon her. Yet this was his mission, he was not going to let the leader of Akatsuki have his pleasure in knowing Uchiha Itachi could not perform everything to absolute perfection. Between him and Kanna, he chose himself of course.

Head lolling back those feminine shaped eyes of the Uchiha stared to the gray sky as black strands of silken hair slid across his facial structure. It was going to rain, it was even in the chilling air. Yet even so cold, his fingers could still feel the smooth of Kanna's skin, that soft struggle. Today, did he not request she continue her story with him? Yes. He had not forgotten.

"You are a complete utter mess," he spoke to the sky, eye brows furrowed on a stone glare.

Kanna stepped into the courtyard and looked out to the dull manor side. Her expression bent in misery and loath seemingly directed at the man who so easily had control over her. "A pity I'm such a burden to you," she said in a cruel manner.

A burden to him? She could not truly grasp the truth in that. As he turned his head to the side to stare at Kanna with that uncaring way of his, he saw her stubbornly staring out to nowhere. Obviously directing all her animosity solely at him. Itachi's dark mane was then caught in a light breeze, stirring those bangs and chanting that black cloak spotted with red clouds to dance. "Do you fully understand what rank of skills are required to be in Akatsuki?"

"No," she shot back, still staring out to the gloomy manor side.

When he read through the entire file on the Haru clan and their capabilities he was given, Itachi discovered at fourteen Kanna had achieved Jounin. Now the girl was seventeen and two years without practice. What level had she dropped to?

Frown firmly resting on that fine face of his, Itachi slipped the silky fabric of his Akatsuki cloak downward along his broad shoulders. "To put it into words you could understand," he spoke. "Unable to fend off Deidara is truly pathetic." Once again he had a go at Kanna. It seemed the Uchiha would elegantly lend out insults to the girl, only to stir a arousal of anger within her.

Kanna's head jerked around so quickly that little fly away hairs touched along her soft jaw line. "I'm sick and tired of your criticism," she bit.

"Oh really?" Itachi inquired in a deadly tone.

"Yes," it seemed Kanna had found the fountain of courage. "More than a few times you've declared that I am weak and pathetic, that its all my fault… that even my brother was pathetic because he did not resort to brute like manner and punish those children who were picking on him," her body gave a full turn as her shoulders slumped down and hands lay in fists at her side. She took a defensive stance. "Do you ever stop? What are you aiming for out off all this, my hatred?"

To lack hatred, to be weak … with enough hate a person could not help but become strong. From the day he came upon her, he realized the only way to get what he wanted, what Akatsuki wanted, would be to tap Kanna's hate. To abuse her, put her in a spot, take away what mattered to a broken girl.

"You've got a lot of nerve," he said tonelessly. "But has it not worked?" Itachi's head tilted to the side somewhat, that idle stare of sharingan upon the girl who thought herself on a roll for word.

"Has it worked?" she repeated in a confused tone. "I do not understand…"

Itachi allowed himself some time to breathe. It seemed Kanna had yet to catch on to the method he was using on her. The most effective way the Uchiha knew how to get what he wanted. "Tell me what fueled you to come out here just now. Try and convince me that the real reason you are out here being so obstinate is not because, in conclusion you have been pushed to the edge, making you, Kanna-san, realize you're more than willing to get on with this program."

"_Hatred_…" she breathed. It truly fueled her coming out, it aided her in the decision to deliberately look for a kunai. His form now drew closer to Kanna's. Itachi peered down to the girl who looked as if she had been lied to all this time. Kanna had not realized that Itachi had been feeding her subliminal messages through body language and criticism. No longer did she lack hatred.

"If you hate me … don't be offended if I don't care." It no longer mattered to Itachi, who hated him. There was just so much animosity directed at him now, the Uchiha highlighted in every bingo book just didn't give a damn anymore. He deserved the hate. "Another grain of rice will not tip the scale."

And as he stood in front of this girl who went mute and only looked to her weaponry holsters in his left hand, he had his preconceptions. Indeed, he believed with no doubt that she hated him. He was the reason she was here, the reason her brother wasn't. A bittersweet smile would soon surface on Itachi's face. This method proved to have worked in the past.

About to turn around and set up the dummies and target boards for her placement test, Itachi paused, hearing Kanna finally speak. "Congratulations, I must say your method worked wonders…" Her voice was low, in a haze as facial expressions were hidden by the curtains of long dark locks.

Itachi's back faced Kanna. He now was baring himself for the declaration of loathing for him, putting into poetry that he was horrible, cruel, etc. "And?" Itachi quietly pushed on.

Haru Kanna drew in a breath, her head rose up from the slouch of defeat. "I hate, but I do not hate you!" He was wrong. Though his method of hate worked, she was channeling that emotion elsewhere.

"…," Uchiha Itachi raised an incredulous eyebrow. What was her problem? Had she not been listening to a single word he expressed? Kanna just declared she in fact, did not hate him. Really it did not register in Itachi's mind. "Do you strive to be stupid?" he spat then.

Instead of Itachi stepping forward now, he was caught off guard when Kanna advanced on him this time around. Expression displaying that the girl had a thing or two ready for declaration. "Uchiha Itachi, I do not hate you and I shouldn't have to hate you. The only hate I have, is for the organization which feeds off your existence -- Akatsuki!"

To her, it wasn't Itachi's fault she was in this manor. It was not the Uchiha's fault he made a bad choice some point in his life and ended up in Akatsuki, doing their bidding for whatever fallacious promise they told him. Itachi's expression had bent to hazardous area as she continued her rant. "The fact you want me to hate you … now _that_ is disturbing." Kanna added in breathlessly.

His expression could sincerely frighten. Eyebrows furrowed, those distinct eye depressions deepening with every word Kanna so bluntly spat. That tall, dark frame of his standing erect in a strict manner. Anyone would have noticed she questioned Itachi's significance. Kanna had said Akatsuki simply fed off of his existence. Though that should have offended him greatly, Itachi already was aware that the red dawn fed off of his extreme skills.

As time began to tick by and it got darker and darker in the courtyard, Kanna slowly began to realize what exactly she had said. But she wouldn't take it back. The Haru wasn't going to apologize for saying the truth. Yet, her heart rate began to rise and she was finding the walls of the manor quite alluring to hide behind now.

Itachi closed his eyes then, not exactly knowing what to say now. To think, when it was needed, Itachi was truly lacking in word or insult. So he dug up a simple answer, one which said it all. "Foolish girl, you don't know me." With that Itachi turned away from Kanna.

How dare that girl. Her impudence, impatience, integrity and astonishing innocence. Itachi on no account had been spoken to like that. Never had somebody told him that he did not deserve their hate. But how could something like that bother him? Kanna held no ill feelings towards the Uchiha, just the Akatsuki. It should not have stirred a ripple in the sea of his mind at all. But it did.

'I should have just kept my big mouth shut!' Kanna would inwardly think, her expression fell into a stressful scowl, right eyebrow giving a twitch of rage towards her own self. 'I should just take a shovel and start digging my own grave,' Yes Kanna had come out here ready to pick up a kunai and put some effort into rekindling that fire of a formidable kunoichi. Now out in the courtyard, dummies along with targets decorating the courtyard stone walls of age, she began to feel that clam up again. 'I can't do this'… After all that talk. What to show?

"Forget it," Itachi's monotone then broke the silence.

"What do you mean … forget it?" Kanna would repeat. Brown eyes blinking, she expected his tone to be acidic. Angered that she was once again being difficult.

Right now Itachi could not bare witness to the Haru's display of weaponry skill. He could not stand a disappointment of such magnitude. Besides, it seemed too soon for her. Right now Itachi decided true basics needed to be seen.

With a smooth turn on his heel, the Uchiha would toss the kunai holster and shuriken pouch to the cobblestone floor with numerous toned clanging. Sharingan narrowed, Itachi exhaled. "I'm not in the mood to bare witness to your embarrassing clumsiness with simple weapons." Yet another insult. "So, I'm giving you an order even a genin could follow through with."

She hoped whatever it was Itachi was planning, she could at least pull off with some grace. In fact she was very thankful he did not want to see her skill with kunai and shuriken. Cause the kunoichi highly doubted aim could come back to her easily. "And what order is that?" she questioned uncertainly.

That cold autumn breeze once again whisked by, the air of a rain storm pending high in the heavens. Itachi tossed that implausible blank expression over his shoulder to Kanna. "Just concentrate your chakra…" And once Kanna pulled that off, he could analyze her chakra with sharingan. He could determine what level in power she stood at. Her ranking.

Almost instantly and to Itachi's dismay, Kanna objected. "W-what? There is no possible way I could do such so soon ," she spoke urgently. "Really, maybe we should start out with shuriken and kunai, surely I'll have better chance with them than chakra?"

"No," he told strictly.

"Listen to me," the Haru shook her head, eyes wide as if trying to stare reason into him. "Shuriken and kunai, just those. Maybe in a week or two my skills will come back," still standing away from him, Kanna begged for something easier than summoning chakra which had long ago rotted.

Seeing those doe eyes wide with flustered fear, he began to question if this was going to work out or not. Was she nothing but a waste of his time? He could send out the report saying Haru Kanna was a loss cause, defected. Surely they could locate another S rank criminal.

"Reconsider," Kanna begged softly. Of course she had taken notice how often the Uchiha would go off in his own mind, stare out into the distance of thick forests or glare into the soft blue of the sky. It was obvious he enjoyed silence, responded better when addressed with more respect. So she summoned that from herself battering that haughty attitude into its cage. "I just need time, nothing else," Kanna's hands extended out, taking soft pinch onto Itachi's fishnet shirt.

An invasion of his personal space. Those small digits clawing at all his chest's firmness. Itachi lowered the sight of his elegant eyes. "We, do not have time." He bit suddenly. The leader of Akatsuki was calling. Haru Kanna did not have the authority in Akatsuki, the importance to ask for a few days to work on one skill alone. He coldly pulled away from her then.

That silence which always seemed to manifest between the two, rose once again. Itachi had just expressed she had no time to struggle. She needed to remember fast. Surely he did not need to take any time to explain what would happen if she did not progress in any way.

"You said to me Kanna-san, that you would change…" the elder Uchiha sat himself down on a bench outside a garden storage house. Its long roof shielding him, casting a shadow over his serious frame as that refined form of impassive speech issued from those lips. "In order for you to change, I then expressed you would need to do as I commanded."

Standing in the middle of a courtyard, wearing a yukata during the wrong season, surrounded by shinobi training gear and weaponry, Kanna felt frustration ensue. "I remember…" she told in a voice teetering between anger and defeat.

"Good, then we understand each other," He told curtly. With one hand, Itachi gestured for Kanna to commence with his command. He would only sit and analyze with sharingan. Chakra concentration was not difficult, but it could be if you slacked off for years.

Astounded that he just sat himself down, Kanna scowled. She did not enjoy being someone else's form of entertainment. She would glance to her sandaled feet, hands, then Itachi once again. His stare was stone set on her.

"Are you just going to sit there and watch me?" she snapped.

"Yes," Itachi answered. "Do you have a problem with that, Kanna-san?" His voice almost seemed challenging, so Kanna faltered and shook her head with a simple no. When really it was more pressure on her if he just sat and watched.

A half hour would pass by, before Kanna even gave a weak attempt to finger out a hand seal. Each individual digit would twitch with uncertainty, unsure of how to bend and where to press. To Itachi, the kunoichi appeared to be a little girl expressing inexperience. A little snarl here and there she would give, doe eyes brightening with sudden knowing, before faltering along with a expression of downfall as she drifted farther away from this small goal.

"Just concentrate your chakra, it should not be difficult," muttered Kanna, to herself. But her own words of encouragement didn't do much. There was some terror that was pulling her hands apart. Giving reason to why her fingers refused to bend properly.

Itachi was slowly becoming impatient now. Evening had dropped upon the Uchiha and Haru. Autumn's cold night weather was beginning to bite at his skin. "We do not have all night," he warned her coldly. Itachi's eyebrows furrowed beneath his long bangs and the covering of that struck through forehead protector.

Kanna gave a half scowl over her shoulder to him, but ignored Itachi's words by simply turning away. Going back to her hands, Kanna was aiming for a hitsuji, the ram seal. It was most common when concentrating chakra. 'I can do this … its _not_ hard,' her mental voice coaxed her on. But it just wasn't working. Kanna couldn't bring herself to do this. "God dammit!"

He sat in his usual strict position, calm as ever, a far cry from the state of mind Haru Kanna was in. Back against the bench rest, both of his feet were firm to the ground as sharingan was aglow in that indigo of oncoming night. Kanna threw her hands at her side in frustration, giving up. Itachi's sharingan narrowed. To make matters worse for the girl, it now started to rain. "I don't remember telling you to stop," said the Uchiha in cruel pitch.

"I can't do this…" Kanna uttered breathlessly, feeling the icy bits of liquid dropping.

"As if no one noticed such," he stated curtly. "So keep trying."

She veered around to glare over in the dry shadows he sulked within. "Did you not comprehend what I just said? I _am_ trying! And it is just not working, I cannot do this!" Kanna felt her heart beat rising up again, beating just as quick as the rain which decided to storm upon her. When it rained, it poured.

What a sad disgrace. Such a pretty face yet she was not regrettable. Once again the girl got smart with him, then did the exact opposite of what he wanted. "Kanna-san," he called to her strictly. "Do as I say, get back to what I assigned you to do."

"But I can't!" she screamed as the rain pounded harder. Drums of war; autumn began to mock this kunoichi. Dousing her in wet, yukata material stuck to her frame, and all that hair of hers becoming heavy with water weight. "Please," she begged. Expression rounded with unhappiness and desperation, the rain water slicked her face as drops dripped from the tip of her nose. "Help me..."

"…," He stared to her with his impassive facade, those elegant eyes curved with cruelty. She wanted him to help her? Quite a scene it was. A woman standing in the midst of a dark courtyard, soaking wet, hair spider webbed across a flawless face… bent in desperation. A need for his aid.

Kanna heard the stupidity in her request. Itachi would not help her. What did he care if she failed or not? Less for the Uchiha to worry about, he could go out and find a more willing participant. Placing nail between enamel, she closed her eyes and bit down with emotional tension.

That's when something astonishing took place. Uchiha Itachi brought his body up. At a standstill beneath the little roof which kept him dry during this sudden downpour, he considered what he was about to do. Kanna was turned away from him, obviously too ashamed to allow him the sight of her frustrated eye drippings. Without any dictation, Itachi crossed the wet stone of the courtyard.

Wallowing in her own pathetic regret, Kanna felt that presence. In reflex her body straightened up, only to feel her upper back press into the tepid flesh of Itachi's chest. "What…what are you doing?" Her inquiry came when she felt that sensual warmth of his body press up against her own.

"You asked me for help…" came that emotionless tone. Among the rainfall, felt up by all the bitter atmosphere, Itachi brought Kanna's reluctant form to his own.

Hips pressed against her lower back, Itachi's chin would barely hover over Kanna's right shoulder as his arms maneuvered around her body slowly. Kanna went quiet, put into a trance by this bodily contact that pulsed hot blood from all about her body. Something about Uchiha Itachi mesmerized her, hypnotized with just a look from sharingan.

"Pay attention…" his voice then came, hot breath fanning out across her ear.

Itachi's arms rested around Kanna as his hands went out for her own. He would put the Haru's hands into a simple praying position, before allowing his own fingers to bend and manipulate her own. Itachi could feel the rain pounding on his back, icy cold droplets slipping down between his shoulders, causing chilled bumps to pucker across his flesh. The only area where his body was warm, would be the front. Where he had drawn Kanna to him.

"Hitsuji…" muttered the Haru. Uchiha Itachi had put Kanna's fingers into a perfect ram seal. A step in beginning the process of concentrating chakra.

She then peered from the corner of her eye, seeing Itachi's face so close to her own, his strong chin just hovering above a tender cup in her shoulder. "Uh?" Itachi's sharingan caught her little glance and they were caught in a each other's gaze. Yet he stared to her with that emotionless mask. Kanna could not see any tenderness harbored in those red pools, just nothing. It was almost sad to look at him.

Breath materializing with the cold, Itachi turned away from Kanna in that uncaring way. His attention had switched to the seal he formed with her fingers. "Concentrate. Chakra is the balance between physical strength and spiritual energy."

"_Hai_," responded Kanna, with a new found determination.

He shifted his stance behind her somewhat. Lowering his arms, he would let Kanna hold the seal by herself. But still Itachi held Kanna, allowing her to feel his own chakra flow. Like second nature that energy hauled up in that majestic frame pulsed strong. "Just…concentrate."

"It is…difficult," said the girl in a winded tone. Of course it was difficult to concentrate, he was so close to her. That was mainly what Kanna was concentrating on. Uchiha Itachi, this murderer, a true criminal was pressed up against her, aiding Kanna with chakra control. In a matter of seconds Kanna felt the blood all rush to her face. Those cheeks of hers radiated a serious heat, she was now so thankful for the cover of night.

Eyebrows losing that bend of aggravation, Itachi nodded his head. "Close you eyes, it only makes sense that your chakra control has suffered over the years…" Strange how he seemed more understanding.

Haru Kanna did as he said. Lips pressed together, a tension began to build in her neck, constricting a swallow of spit. _'Concentrate. Chakra is the balance between physical strength and spiritual energy.' _As she would think this, Itachi allowed a stronger pour of his chakra to escape him. With any luck it would beckon Kanna's chakra from dormancy, stimulate a steady flow from her.

Itachi's own eyes closed, a few moments more would pass just before the break. He would be the first person in years to bare witness to Haru Kanna's chakra. Small, very faint her energy was. But it was progress. "Do you feel it, Kanna-san?" Inquired the even keeled man, mouth still dangerously close to her rain slicked ear.

"I…" Kanna really wished he would just back away now. Or at least give her a moment to cool down. "I do, but it truly is nothing compared to your own." From the core in her chest cavity that warmth of spiritual and physical power composed mutual reached to her fingertips. It was warm, it felt very good. As did _other_ things. Once again she would peer over her shoulder to Itachi.

But all good things do have to come to an end. Itachi would feel a bit of disappointment when Kanna's chakra broke up and dispersed into a calm life flow once again. Kanna also felt a displeasure when Itachi's hold on her receded. She was cold again.

A small accomplishment, yet the rain did not care as it continued to bawl down upon them. Two figures amidst this downpour. One unsure of how to hold herself, dabbling in her mind on how to take the man's strange act of kindness. While the other figure stood as still as a statue.

To muster up enough courage to express her gratitude to Itachi, was difficult. "Itachi-san?" She crossed her arms over her chest, palms pressing into her biceps as if trying to squeeze out her own body heat. "Please, forgive me for all I am putting you through."

"…," Itachi began to wonder where he had tossed his cloak, he could really use it right about now.

"Your help and company…just you listening to me, is truly appreciated," about to shiver a thank you, Kanna was cut off as Itachi drew away from her.

"That's enough for today, get in the manor before you catch cold," Though his voice did not harbor the severity of a command, it was obvious he did not want to hear anymore from Kanna. He knew she was going to thank him, but he would not allow such a waste of breath. There was nothing to thank really, Itachi merely aided Kanna to become like him. Food for Akatsuki and its fierce ambition.

She would go past Itachi then, only to pause on the manor deck before the back doors. Chocolate colored eyes would come to a half-lidded state as those butterfly lashes were stuck with raindrops. Itachi still stood out in the rain, almost bare-chested without his Akatsuki cloak. "I do not catch colds…" she corrected softly. "But you on the other hand Itachi-san, can."

She peered to him coquettishly through her long lashes, a small smile soon manifested on that flawless facade. Was she attempting to joke with him? The Uchiha would stare through the heavy rainfall, looking beyond that white mist which seemed to exude and hum from everything the downpour touched upon. He looked to Kanna. "Mind your own business." He told.

Once Kanna dried herself off, she found Deidara poking around the kitchen like a curious rodent. Yes there was plenty of food, but one would need cooking skills to get a real meal out of the various things stacked in the cabinets. So after shooing the clay master from the kitchen with a spatula, since he once again tried to grab her backside, Kanna and her sudden growth of self-confidence made a rather large dinner.

Plates set on the dinning room table with the food dishes displayed from one end of the table to the other, it did not take long for Deidara and Kisame to stampede in like cattle. "Ho- what is the occasion Kanna-san?" Deidara looked to the table hefty with steaming food.

"No occasion," she simply answered with a smile, taking chopsticks from a cup with a little more light heartedness.

Sifting some vegetables, Deidara then narrowed his eyes suspiciously at the grass kunoichi. "Then someone is just in a good mood, yeah?" Kanna would see a smirk spread across the clay master's innocent appearing face. As if he suspected something.

Kanna then scowled to him before she would shrug off his words. "If all this food displeases you, Deidara-san, then tomorrow you are more than welcomed to a cup'o'noodle."

Deidara blinked as authentic noodles spilled from his mouth, he then slurped up messily. "No, its delicious. You are too good, yeah." Scope no longer in his left eye, both those sapphire sights eased over Kanna's face. She smiled still.

"Get me some sake," gurgled Kisame. Thankfully he sat beside Deidara, while Kanna was at the head of the table, staring at a empty seat where a equally empty plate sat upon the table mat.

The clay master scowled at the shark-hybrid, obviously not grateful for such a fine meal. "Here," he slid a bottle of liquor towards Kisame, who gurgled out a half-assed thank you. Deidara would then notice the female looking towards that empty seat, then over towards the hall which lead to her bedroom, also Itachi's.

"It's a shame Itachi is missing out," the clay master cooed then. "Unappreciative bastard, yeah." Kisame looked over the brim of his bowl as he shoved mounds of rice into that huge bear trap of his. All the while those greedy fishy eyes studied the chef. The way Deidara spoke of her when she was not around, had aroused Kisame's curiosity and lecherous little mind.

"Yes, a real shame…" Kanna picked at her food. And as the two men finished, she had only eaten a fourth of what she served herself.

"Kanna-san," called Deidara. He stood between the door frame which lead to the living room. "Come and join Kisame and I for a drink, yeah."

"I appreciate the offer, Deidara-san. But no thank you, that dinner really had me tear back the kitchen," she held stacked bowls in each hand, balancing them by swaying herself just a tad bit.

"You are missing out on a true bonding experience with your new family, yeah," Deidara gave her a flirtatious wink, before turning around and heading back into the living room. Of course when he thought Kanna was not looking, his shoulders slouched and it almost appeared that he was sulking. The grass kunoichi shook her head a bit with amusement, before getting back to her cleaning.

By the time midnight had fallen, Deidara and Kisame once again drank themselves to sleep. Kanna had lead herself down the corridor towards her room ready for bed, before noticing a light on in Itachi's sleeping quarters. She could see his shadow, sitting on a chair propped next to a desk.

He had not shown up for dinner, in fact he had not had any contact with his comrades or her after the courtyard incident. For whatever reason Kanna scuttled back into the kitchen and pulled out the many leftovers from the large dinner she made.

Warming up what was necessary, the girl headed back down the hall with a plate in one hand, and a sake bottle in the other. "Its still on…" She was thankful to know when she returned, he was still awake, still seated on that chair. 'What if he doesn't want to see me? It will be so embarrassing to have him send me off…' There was doubt as she placed the sake bottle under her arm and then knocked. "Itachi-san?"

* * *

A/N: You know how people say you're your biggest critic? Well I think that is the case right now. For some reason I just couldn't put the feel I was going for in chapter 10. Its weird, and its making me a bit frustrated. Oh! ..; I hope my writing quality isn't dropping six feet under.

But besides myself, thank you for all the AWESOME reviews. They really, really kick me into gear when writers block chokes me with her pantie hoes. LOL All right well on my profile I put links to some illustrations for this story. Just OC pictures. They aren't great. But eh, I try. Lol You can stare at all their ugliness if you want, just clickie clickie my profile... if you DARE! Dun, dun, dun -dramatic music- So everybody who is reading this and reviewing, thank you very much. Luv ya guys. Hope this chapter wasn't a bummer or a waste of that precious summer vacation time.

-connie


	11. lithium

_"Confide in me...i'll be your one and only vault of truth."_

So there he sat, in the midst of this stolen space, withering in the subtle tangerine glow of a oil lamp. Yet again he had drifted off into the murky ocean of his psyche. Fishnet adorned chest to the chair, legs sitting on either side, a piece of what appeared to be paper was pinched between his elegant fingers. Itachi could not sleep. It wasn't that his eyes were incapable of closing. The cause of his insomniac stare, was in fact the constant flow of thought in his mind. It could downward spiral him into the deepest of sorrows, drown him amongst the thickest of regret. Sharingan sights bent on this weathered piece of paper, his soft idle expression became furrowed as Kanna welcomed herself into his room.

Almost instantly Itachi's head snapped up as his right hand concealed the piece of mysterious paper beneath his folded akatsuki cloak which laid on the desk he sat in front of. How dare she interrupt his solitude. Once again the girl did not wait for his permission, she just waltzed right in. It could only be expected that he would glare at her. And so Itachi did. But only for the briefest of seconds, since now he noticed her unsure stare as she balanced a bowl in one hand and a sake bottle in the other.

"What do you want?" came his emotionally vacant voice. Though, Itachi could not grasp why he even bothered asking. It was a bit obvious why she was in his room again.

Kanna inhaled, though her insides did a few flips and turns. "Well, you did not come to eat, any certain reason why not?"

Itachi's lips pursed as he sat still as a block of Arctic black ice. The intense stare of sharingan pierced through the dismal orange glow of the room. Yet the Uchiha's facial detail was obscured to Kanna right now, so she was unable to determine if he was only slightly annoyed with her, or beyond. "Its none of your business," he affirmed, after a few seconds.

She had to admit that she saw that coming a league off. "Correct, it is none of my business. But, I'm just asking."

"…," with no response, his head turned away then. Itachi would slowly roll his shoulders, as if trying to relieve a day's worth of tension. That slow roll of muscle gave the quiet room a slight sound stir of clothing against flesh.

Upon her entrance to his room, Kanna's eyes had caught that quick movement of his hand placing something beneath the thick folds of his cloak. To her it looked like a piece of paper, maybe a small cut out of cardboard. Though Itachi didn't seem like the pack rat type.

Amidst the awkward silence which always wished to taunt Kanna when feeling embarrassed or unsure of herself, and doubling that accursed feeling, the girl proceeded forward and through it. Walking over to him without much of a stare, she was merely going to place the bowl and sake bottle down. No harm in that. But there must have been some smidge of harm because all so suddenly Itachi's left arm shot out. Hand protectively going over his akatsuki cloak, Kanna raised an eyebrow of slight amusement.

"Are you hiding something under there?" Kanna inquired, a slight tinge of teasing in her voice. From just today, Kanna was able to determine there was some humanity in this person, it was comforting in the most surprising of ways.

Itachi did not find this amusing whatsoever though, so he sent her a strict glare as his fingers gripped dangerously tight to his cloak's black cloth. "State your business Kanna-san, and leave." Crimson optics narrowed, he witnessed Kanna's very slight smile wither and die.

"…," There was the air of quiet again. What was her business, did she have any at all?

As both of them waited for the other to speak, Itachi did not touch the food nor look at it. But he looked to Kanna, who in return stared to a wall, strangely interested in a painting. Yes, she did not have too much business to attend with him. She just wanted to talk, but now was in desperate need of a conversation feed. Anything -- something she could smartly think up and Itachi wouldn't criticize.

It hit her like a ton of bricks and inwardly she exhaled in disappointment at her own lack of people skills. "I was not aware your words came with an expiration date," told Kanna.

"…," he quirked an eyebrow, confused at her vague reply.

"You asked me to continue my story. Yes?"

Even when she entered his room a few minutes ago, he was aware what he had told her last night. But he thought she had forgotten. "…I did," was his solemn answer. Not ever one to talk unless it was important, Itachi proved himself to be a good listener. Or rather, a statue stuck in a garden where a girl was squabbling her issues to plants and whatever was too deep rooted for an escape.

At first Kanna looked about for a chair, she would have sat on the bed but felt the atmosphere wasn't very comfortable or decent for such a leisurely sit. In the end Kanna decided to stand, just incase she needed a running start. The blunt of word always seemed to escape her lips, that could be dangerous.

"Don't turn the light up," he warned, witnessing Kanna's fingers going towards the oil lamp.

"Sorry…" but she could barely see him.

Arms folded across her chest, beneath the cover of her limbs Kanna popped her knuckles in nervousness. "Ask me a question, because I don't know where to stop or where to end," she told the Uchiha, whilst twisting her digits in knots.

"…," a moment of unsure stare, before Itachi sighed. "The Miko costume, and why."

Okay, that was a good start. "Well, when Iwagakure's forces moved out…with all blood and dust settled, my brother and I witnessed the bloodshed in morning light. I'm not too sure if he realized…but I did…" she would pause again, giving Itachi a moment to stare to her in question. "The reason for all that death became apparent to me. It was retribution. Nothing but payback and grimy karma. After that, without my family…I gave up the shinobi life."

Itachi's ears were prepared for a raw speech. Like when he asked himself what he had become. Kanna's words brought back a lot of memory. But now he began to hear what separated them. "The shinobi lifestyle only brings violence, greed, and loss. The reason why I took off my forehead protector and the reason why I have forbidden my little brother to use any form of shinobi jutsu. Without the clan, we…I am nothing."

The little flame of the oil lamp flickered as a open window somewhere in the manor, allowed a cold autumn breeze in. So, she chose a normal life for her and her little brother, because they had nothing left. Itachi found this interesting. Unlike her, Itachi had held no faith in his clan back then. All it ever was about: the clan. Never measuring ones individual power…always thinking selflessly and not selfish enough. He was selfish then, and selfish now. So in a sense the Haru and Uchiha were on totally different sides of the totem pole.

"How predictable, the acts of a daughter from a clan," Itachi suddenly said, almost in a bitter tone towards her strange decision at life. Kanna snapped her head in his direction and sent her own glare.

"What is that suppose to mean?" she volleyed back.

The Uchiha shifted in his chair a bit, yet did no drastic movements. "Exactly what it sounds like…its pitiful, that you cling onto your clan and judge yourself by them."

Kanna's expression was bent, as if she felt a furry yet was trying to suppress it for whatever unmentionable reason. "Nothing it pitiful about it!"

He smirked then, his hand reaching lazily across the desk. "Explain to me, your purpose."

"My…purpose?" she questioned, eyebrows somewhat furrowed with confusion.

Itachi straightened his back and his head cocked to the side in cruel interest. "Within your clan, I'm sure you had a purpose…" She was about to speak, but he silenced her with a hand. "Yet now they are gone, so what is your purpose?"

Did Itachi talk just a little more with her than his own akatsuki comrades? Because right now, she really wished he was mute. The question he tossed was well thought out. As if he himself had been pondering his own purpose. Unfortunately for Kanna, now he passed the disease on. "I…don't have one," she said, a bit breathlessly, as if astonished at her result.

He turned away from her then, as if disappointed. "Sad, you have only realized that now."

This was a true conversation. A surprise since it takes two to have a conversation, and Itachi was apart of the pair. "Stop," she spoke in a battered softness. "Enough words have been spoken on my behalf…" She had to admit, around Itachi she felt like some novel character. A person locked in pages and only opened to be stared down upon by a cynical critic.

Yet again, like a rerun, it went silent…except for the sound of porcelain sliding along the wooden surface of a desk. Itachi had brought Kanna's offering of late dinner, towards himself.

A mind of ponder, the female Haru would turn the tables sharply. She had her own questions for Itachi, yet the only real question was…would he answer? "Itachi-san," A sinking in the pits of her gut, though her expression stayed brave, "Could you tell me a bit about yourself?"

His body went rigid then, caught in a slight slouch of the back as he peered down to the bowl of food. "No." He spoke, yet not in a ornery tone just yet. Talking about her was fine, but he was off limits completely.

Kanna blinked a bit in surprise, yet somehow she also felt insulted he wouldn't confide in her, "I understand its rude of me to ask, but…I mean since we'll be in constant contact."

He did not feel comfortable with this, she needed to be silent and leave him alone. "You do not need to know anything about me," he broke coldly. "If by some diminutive chance you join our ranks, we'll be seeing very little of each other…" a slight glance towards her, he noticed how pink her fingertips were as those digits knotted with each other.

"Yes well-" Kanna started curtly, but Itachi shot another blazing red glare.

"There is no point in me telling you about myself…" he snapped apart the chopsticks then. Slowly lowering them into the bowls lukewarm sustenance, he paused and spoke in a involuntary gentleness, which he would later scowl upon. "Believe me…you don't want to know about one such as I."

All Kanna knew about this man, was he was at a lack of facial muscle. Not once did she witness him smile. His voice somehow was even able to hold a drone sound, as if his vocal box had purged sentiment away like some unnecessary, cheap trinket.

Head turning away from Kanna, his eyes folded shut as he brought the chopsticks bearing food at their ends, to his awaiting tongue.

"That's not true," she retorted then.

Itachi's tongue rolled the rice and sauce about slowly then. Was she actually interested in knowing about him? She really was foolish…Itachi was still motionless, not showing much interest in why she wanted to know about him. Less have her think he had some hope in finding a confession booth. Eyebrows furrowed, lips then pursing together, he swallowed and gently turned in his chair to face Kanna full on.

She had arched an eyebrow witnessing him then turn to her. Though he was expressionless, his sharingan depicted enough of a dark aura to make one feel small. But this time she wasn't going to shrink away in fear he'd swat her like some blood thirsty mosquito. "By far, you're the most vague and stubborn person I've ever come in contact with," she bit, while then crossing her arms and putting a strict look on.

The Uchiha stared on, yet a hint of amusement tickled his lips. Kanna found him difficult… slowly a smirk creased his mouth, awaiting the release of a question sure to make her feel uncomfortable. "Then why do you continue to put yourself in my presence when its not necessary?" Itachi swallowed, his eyes staring directly into Kanna's chocolate sights.

Haru Kanna had been ready for a snappy comeback if he said anything about her flaws, but instead…"Because I-?" Cheeks dotted pink, she made a face. Confused at where he was going with that question, Kanna couldn't help but give him a suspicious look .

She responded in the way he thought she would. Elbows to his knees, Itachi rested his chin atop his folded hands. "…why?" he pushed on, showing some mild interest.

Not knowing what to do, she began to pop her knuckles. "Because…no one else will listen to me."

For some reason his facial details became more etched and severe. "What of Deidara, you and him seem to be on good speaking terms," was there just a hint of jealousy in Itachi's voice?

Kanna hadn't heard it, all she heard was Itachi trying to get on her nerves again. "What does Deidara have to do with this?" she volleyed back.

Uchiha Itachi thought out every word before they poured passed his lips with non-existent feeling. Yet this time, he was wondering himself about his last sentence. Eyebrows leaning in together, he would inwardly berate himself for such an off topic choice of words.

She still stood before him, watching as his eyes averted and he'd seem to go within himself again. 'Why don't I talk to Deidara?' He seemed far more outgoing, optimistic, he even made her laugh. Though, the groping really, really wasn't needed. 'But…its attention, nonetheless.'

"It bothers me…" Kanna continued.

"…," while he said nothing.

"It bothers me when you come up with all these…" Kanna's voice faltered a bit as she flailed her hands, as if trying to form words from oxygen. "I live selfless, so what?"

Uchiha Itachi's question on her purpose in life, really was beginning to eat at her. As if it wasn't difficult enough being in this manor, with him, Kisame, Deidara. She didn't fit in, Kanna didn't want to fit in. But she was torn between the miserable life she had before the Akatsuki came knocking.

"The only reason I'm here, is because of my little brother," Slowly, Kanna's voice was dragging up some strength. It was about time. "Haru Kouji is my purpose. His safety from the morning I wake up in this disdain wreaking manor, to the cold night I crawl under the covers of a dead noble woman…his safety is on my mind and nothing else."

Itachi couldn't take this anymore. All her talk of her little brother, how she was so momentously selfless. "You're stupid…" said the Uchiha, finishing the bowl and shoving it into her hands.

"Err--!" Kanna took the bowl in hand angrily. "Why am I so stupid now?"

…why? Those feminine shaped eyes eased into a hateful, half-lidded state. "Because, you deny yourself the qualities of a human being." Was she trying to be perfect? Be some self-righteous Mary Sue? Kanna had to have anger, avarice, envy, gluttony, pride, sloth, and…lust. He had them, no doubt.

She now realized how easily Itachi had turned the subject from him to her, instantly. All he had to do was poke at the right nerve. In some ways it was impressive, she hadn't possessed such a quick temper since her days amongst the rest of her clan.

He stood tall and lean, that figure casting such a ominous shadow over her shot and curvy frame. And as he looked down to her, she peered up to him. "Clever, you've changed the subject…" Kanna pointed out, her voice in a curious haze as she clasped the porcelain of his empty dinner bowl.

"…?"

"You look at me as if I'm below you…that I can't understand you," her lips parted a bit as her faced leaned up to his, head cocking to the side as her own sights shone curiosity. "But besides your obvious superiority complex, its obvious Itachi-san that you will avoid every question I throw out that's directed at you…what do you have to hide?"

If possible, Itachi's fully matured sharingan lit with a fire of mixed feeling. For once the girl was up in his face and he felt he had lost control of this conversation. Itachi didn't like it. With a crisp snap, his hand went out to grasp Kanna's chin, a final plea for control. Her eyes widened a bit with surprise.

"Where the hell do you think you're going with your ranting, Kanna-san?" his voice was flat and threatening as he looked into her. Once again she forgot her place. This pending Akatsuki member had no right to question thee Uchiha Itachi. Let alone think he was some book for her to read.

"I…" she began, but his thumb and index finger had a real pinch on her chin. This had to stop, she wasn't going to allow some man to push her around anymore. Kisame, making his rude comments to her body, Deidara having no restraint and grabbing, then Itachi…treating her as if she were some servant. "Let me go, now-!" Kanna's hand came up, then tore his hand from her face. Thankfully his surprise eased his grip a bit, so her chin didn't go with him.

Not at all happy how she handled him, Itachi stepped forward and shoved Kanna back into the closed paper patched doors. She gave a little 'ouf,' on contact. In no way did his expression change from uncaring stone. "Answer my question, Girl," threatened the Uchiha.

"Have you forgotten who I am?" her fingers began to feel for the door handles. "Your name is high lighted in every shinobi bingo book -- you think I wouldn't know what you're convicted of?" still her voice was strong, but the inner Kanna really wished there was a needle to sew her lips together. She was digging that grave deeper and deeper…there would be no rain felt on her face.

Itachi for once didn't feel secure with himself. Instead he noticed his breath becoming heavy, raspy as he pressed his frontal body against hers. Once again Itachi felt that soft warmth of Kanna's body... 'She has no right to, who does she think she is, I'm sick of her!'

When her back met the closed doors, she flashed back to the day she was first conscious in this manor. 'What am I doing? Look at him, he'll kill me if I keep talking…' she couldn't help it. Lips pressed together hard, Kanna closed her eyes. 'What good am I to Akatsuki if I'm a coward…' Itachi had brought that question upon her once. 'More so, what good am I to my brother, if I'm a coward!?'

Haru Kanna's chest was pressed against Itachi, as if he were trying to intimidate her to death. "Tell me more…what else do you know about me?" he questioned bitterly. It had been a long time since he got this worked up.

Inhaling deeply through her mouth, the girl before the Uchiha gave up. But not in a weak sense. "I came in here asking you about you, because _I_ wanted to know about you. If only to clear up a few things…" at first apprehensive to his sight, her glare commenced with his and by some miracle she slid the damn door open. "I think by now…I've figured you out."

"…." silence from him.

In front of Kanna he appeared to be a mass shadow, that tangerine glow from the oil lamp being his shadows highlighting frame. It made him more sinister…if so, more appealing. She knew there was something about Uchiha Itachi from the beginning, when they first met. Something…greatly bothered him. True killers, true criminals, they don't possess a conscience…the sense of right and wrong. Yet it was obvious he did, the regret soaked into him…you could almost taste it, smell it.

Oh she was scared, Kanna's knees buckled and when her hand felt the openness of the hallway, she just wanted to flee. Make it quick into her room, barricade the door, maybe ask for some forgiveness?

But she just stood there…Itachi just stood there, his head tilted down somewhat. Those dark locks of his cascaded down over his struck through konoha forehead protector. Only to cast shadow upon his eyes, upon any feature of expression…if maybe now he was bent enough to show any feeling.

He was maddening. Cruel, blood cold as ice with a look that could kill. Then why was she feeling so guilty? Kanna should have been pleased that now she possessed the upper hand in verbal battle. Hollow, it was an empty win as her hand reached out. Not to touch him purposely, but to keep a good distance between him and her.

"Do you…feel ashamed?" Kanna then asked. She felt like she was whispering into the dark, because there was no response. Just a still brick wall in front of her, not wavered by the wind of words in the slightest. Though she couldn't tell by his hidden expression.

His skin crawled then, not staring to the girl's eyes, but spacing out on the rose color of her yukata. Now she asked him if he felt shame. Shame in what? _In so much…_

Haru Kanna began to wonder if feeling guilty was right of her. Uchiha Itachi he was strong physically, though mentally one could question. Her hand was still out pressing into his chest, feeling that warm flesh upon her palm. And as they would stand in silence, one of them became a grounding force.

"If I played this game your way, wondering what if and regretting all I did…" her head lolled to the side, eyes staring towards the floor with this stare as if she was sorting everything out in her mind piece by little piece and shard, "Then just let it consume me, do nothing to fix it…then I would question the point of why I even bother to live."

"…." Itachi shifted a bit, just before taking a firm grab of her wrist. This time Kanna did not pull back angrily. Instead she kept still, speaking to him as he said nothing.

Kanna felt a lot of guilt for being such a horrible daughter and sister. Really a horrible person all around. Not caring for her clan, taking them for granted and in the end when they were all taken away from her, as if she were some little girl who abused her toys or pets…she realized how much they had meant to her. But instead of sitting around, taking it out on her brother and just living in absolute misery. Kanna picked up from there. Started all over to better herself and give affection to all she had left, Kouji.

The girl then took her wrist back from the Uchiha, stepped out into the hall and made her way to her bedroom door. She paused to merely glance over her shoulder to the Uchiha who now regained his posture. "Whatever you did Itachi-san, I'm sure by now your punishment is just…."

* * *

a/n: to be honest i don't know how to start this...except like this. Lol Its been a very long time since I updated this story, i know, i know. And to be honest I wouldn't have got the nerve to post this chapter without "Katie" who messaged me on myspace. Lol This chapter wasn't complete but decided to post it anyway cause if i wanted to add in the minor nosebleed, it would have been very, very long. ALSO, i'm hoping chapter 12 it being a clean slate, will just help the words pour from me a bit better. Cause with this chapter I was like...running dry. 

Now i only sent letters to the ones who had my story on their fav list, but it also explained my damn computer went wacko on me and totally erased my story, pixs, etc. So the original chapter 11 was also erased. For a while I waited in vain for a new computer. I was just too afraid to start chapt 11 over on the computer which wrong me so, I couldn't risk it! But in the end...on the same computer, I bring you chapter 11. So sorry, if I lost any readers I can understand why. (And also...I WILL finish this damn fanfic cause i'm determined! And really all those people who tried to help, thank you. Really the more you bug me and such, the more my creative koolaid starts running) Lol

_-connie_


	12. better of two evils

_"My breaking point: what heals me kills me."_

The slight hum of chatter caught his ears in the early morning gray of autumn as it took a turn for the worse and those black rain clouds were raping whatever light told of the time. Uchiha Itachi, he had been up all night. Though one could probably not tell cause he kind of always had a rather tired, so not into it look.

Right now his form was lingering amid his room doors which opened to the manor deck. Akatsuki cloak the only thing keeping his tense flesh from puckering up with cold chills, he'd still rub his arms gently for some warmth. 'Those words…they will not cease,' Kanna's mouth was in his subconscious. Her lips pouted out every word, the folds of that mouth creasing and trembling when she was unsure of what to say to him.

He was in such deep thought, he hadn't even sensed Deidara leaning against a wall behind him. "So, Kisame-san and I are setting out now," told the blonde. His right hand came up as he began to place that eye scope back in place.

"…," The Uchiha was silent, those feminine framed sharingan just slightly bent with thought.

Clay master waiting for a reply, which he felt a little foolish in doing so cause Itachi was like a damn mute, he then flicked his long bangs impatiently and adjusted that elevated akatsuki collar of his. "Not that I enjoy being the nosey one," he gave a sly smile, he so enjoyed being the nosey one. "But care to enlighten me further, why you were feeling oh so magnanimous this morning…yeah?"

Back to Deidara, Itachi's eyebrows furrowed. "…no."

The blonde raised an eyebrow, arms crossed over his chest as he sent Itachi this rather sour look. And now from down the dark hall the sound of rusty metal screeched. Kisame approached, also clad in his cloak as he held out a lit lantern which swayed to and fro eerily.

At first Kisame stared to his comrades for a moment or two. Itachi not even facing them, then Deidara just glaring towards the Uchiha. "Hmm," Kisame smirked, the light of his early lamp added a ferocious effect to his face. "Did I miss something?"

Darkness still outside, Itachi wished nothing more than to rid himself of Deidara and Kisame. Burdens, that's all they were to him. They didn't need to be here with him…with him and Kanna. Itachi could take care of her himself.

Clay master rolling his eyes at the silence, he was about to question Itachi yet again, but was too slow as the Uchiha peered over his shoulder, that sharp glint of sharingan upon them, "Are you two still here?" He inquired, that tone of his with intense scorn.

Raising an incredulous eyebrow, 'What's with him?' inwardly questioned Kisame. Giving Itachi a rather confused look, Kisame had known the Uchiha to be a bit touchy. It was just this early morning…something seemed a little more bitter about him.

"Bi-polar much…yeah?" scoffed Deidara, as him and Kisame turned around and walked down the cold dark corridor. Upon passing through the front manor doors and taking that first step onto the dewy ground. "_'Are you two still here,'_" Deidara mocked Itachi, "That fuckin' prick, un."

With a rather deep carved smirk, the shark-hybrid nodded his head towards Deidara. This loud bang then sounded off as a puff of smoke then rose towards the dark morning sky. Once again in the middle of the courtyard front, Deidara's clay bird flapped its wings.

They soon boarded and Deidara straddled the bird's neck with his legs, still that sour expression. "What the hell is your problem now Deidara?" inquired Kisame. "Not that I actually care of your well-being or anything of such sorts," he jokingly scoffed. "Its just I do not want to travel with a child throwing some tantrum, it would be rather bothersome" that's what Kisame enjoyed about being partners with Uchiha Itachi. Probably the only thing. The Uchiha kept his problems completely to himself, was silent as a corpse, and knew how to get right down to business when necessary. Sure Kisame did all the grunt work, but he liked it that way.

"I don't have a problem," retorted Deidara defensively. Bird now lowering down as it would jump up and spread its wings, they became airborne with one hop from the clay beast.

Kisame felt the cold wind toss through his uniquely bobbed indigo hair and he'd then clasp his cloak close to him as the bird began to move at a rather quick pace, heading towards Akatsuki base. "You're fuckin' lying," he then said. That's when a thought occurred. And Kisame knew Deidara could be childish, but this was over the top. "Don't tell me you're worried about leaving that no-talented brat with Itachi."

Instantly Deidara scowled. "You know what, mind your own damn business or I'll turn this master piece around, you hear me…yeah?" scolded the blonde.

With a roll of his eyes, the shark-hybrid held his samehada close to his side. "You're so pathetic."

Hands going behind him, Deidara would blindly feel for his traveling hat with those paper slices hanging from the sides. Once he located it, he would put it upon his head roughly. What did Kanna see in Itachi? Last night she totally blew him off, to instead bring that ungrateful jerk a late night dinner. Sure Deidara hadn't known Kanna for very long… but once he had his eye on a true work of art, well the clay master could not accept no. He wanted attention from the girl playing hard to get, Itachi didn't deserve it.

One eye upon the clay master, Kisame just shook his head. "Sometimes I need to remind myself of your youth," because that was a good enough excuse for Deidara. Also, it told Kisame that the blonde didn't know much about Itachi.

"What are you on about?" inquired Deidara, lifting up the brim of his hat with a tiny nudge of his index finger.

Inhaling deeply, Kisame would give a toothy smirk and look out to the land which they flew over. "Itachi, he is a very strange man. Or rather…boy," cause compared to Kisame's age, Itachi was a good number of years younger. "He deprives himself quite a bit. The thrill of a kill, celebrating the victory, and probably the only thing him and I can bond upon is sake."

Deidara's blue, greenish eyes stared curiously out from beneath the brim of that infamous akatsuki hat. Yes, Itachi was very strange- "But what does any of that nonsense have to do with this, yeah?"

"Huh," Kisame sighed heavily. Deidara just wasn't getting it. How could this blonde kid have possibly obtained the one-tail? "Take this for example dunce: Itachi and I had successfully killed an important councilmen of the Mizukage's court sometime back. It was a rough battle, so of course I decided to top the night off with a tight cunt," he was referring to a hooker, obviously cause Deidara knew no woman in her right mind would bed down with Kisame. Deidara had even cringed hearing those words come out from his foul mouth.

"Go on…" pressed the clay master.

"The cathouse was in sight and I quickly grabbed myself and Itachi the finest damn whores in the place. Then something questionable happened-" Kisame then remembered he needed to conceal his features, so he put his hat on. "…Itachi wanted nothing to do with them at all."

Deidara quirked an elegant eyebrow. Kisame took Itachi to a whorehouse and the Uchiha didn't even want to take advantage of such? "Pft, explains quite a bit, always thought Itachi just needed to get laid yeah," joked the blonde.

Kisame gave that deep gutted chuckle. "Yes well, he gave me his usual dirty scowl and walked out of the place. As if insulted that I assumed he was capable of such a need."

After a few minutes of silence, the clay master cleared a bit of what Kisame was saying. "You're trying to tell me he's far too much a prude to induce anything on Kanna-san?"

"…well, its deeper than that, but yes. Like I said for whatever bizarre reason, Itachi deprives himself of any joy and comfort. That includes pleasures of the flesh," Kisame adjusted his seating then as he would finish off his tale.

With a whole new look on the Uchiha, Deidara then inhaled the morning air as they got over the foggy mountains of Earth Country. He could see sunlight now peeking through the thick gray clouds waiting to burst with rain. And really he felt a lot more confident knowing Itachi was nothing but a sad little man. A smirk spread across his lips, "What a confused fool, yeah."

Yes, what a confused fool Itachi was. But one who would surely stick a kunai in your throat to silence you if you ever became a occurring burden to him. Kisame had respect for the Uchiha and would never question him about his past. Besides, that's what a bingo book was for. Like an old school yearbook of sorts.

"Now, give me that damn scroll our dear Uchiha wrote his instructions on…" Kisame leant his hand out to Deidara then, curling and clenching his fingers.

"Here," Deidara handed Kisame the scroll Itachi wrote just this morning. The blonde peered to it menacingly. "Whether or not he thinks he's too high and mighty to fuck anyone, it sure seems like he's trying to get on her good side with those instructions."

Thick blue fingers upon the rolled up scroll Kisame let it coil out, those beady eyes of his ran side to side. "…?" for a moment he was silent, but then his lip curled at Itachi's words. "What the hell?"

----------------------------------------------------------

_Three long days_; -- It had been three long and arduous days since Deidara and Kisame departed from the manor concealed in the midst of Earth Country. Though the days had only been long and arduous for one person, or at least it seemed so to her. Kanna kept to a strict and weary routine she created for herself. She got up early, ate, and immediately went outside to practice on her chakra summoning and control till the late evening. One reason she kept herself so diligent, was because being within the manor meant she'd be beneath the same roof as Itachi. And if he knew it or not, his presence was becoming increasingly unbearable.

Peculiar thing was, Itachi hadn't lifted a hostile finger up towards Kanna, or even criticized her once since that night. No. That unbearable presence in the manor which drove Kanna out, had manifested from his deathly silent aura. His talent for the cold shoulder and plain out avoiding the girl at all costs.

If she were to wander in the same room as him, the Uchiha would simply get up…and leave. No words, Itachi just got up and looked straight ahead as he'd depart the room. And Kanna would just be left there, standing with a incredulous look. At one point she even questioned him 'what did I do?'

Of course Itachi did not even waste his time in staying long enough in her presence to hear her question. She would soon remember all she said. Maybe it was best if Itachi avoided her. It was better than shooting her mouth off, then being pummeled and killed that was for sure.

At the moment Kanna had decided to take her chances in the manor in order to get something to drink. Her long black hair tied up messily, cheeks in her opinion embarrassingly red, Kanna stepped briskly into the kitchen. She found a glass in the sink and gave it a quick rinse before filling it up for herself. She had a tired, almost dazed look in her eyes as her body leaned against the kitchen sink and those average brown sights stared aimlessly out the window towards the courtyard she had been practicing in non-stop.

_'If I played this game your way, wondering what if and regretting all I did…Then just let it consume me, do nothing to fix it…then I would question the point of why I even bother to live.' _

She took a long drink then, before pulling the glass from the tip of her lips and exhaling her momentous thirst. Nothing inside her but the few drops of a forgotten war child. "Why…why?" Kanna asked herself angrily. "It makes no sense." What resided, what survived was simply melting away. A bead here, a bead there just before it rolled down her temple then dripped worthlessly to the kitchen tile. Kanna's muscles twitched, but she paid no mind as she would scowl out the window to those autumn descending leaves. This felt impossible. She felt…weak. Incapable of no more than complaining. A failure in the race against time.

Though, something about her own words that night gave Kanna a drive, more motivation to pull herself out of the chakra dry spell. Coax her spirit and body to push on. 'Concentrate…just concentrate,' Kanna had to keep telling herself outside as her fingers twisted into the ram seal, trying to get another steady chakra flow like she had with Itachi.

Of course today's practice seemed to be heading towards the same outcome of nothing. Expression at first calm and a bit saddened, the girl stared to the glass cup in her hand. Wrist slowly rotating, Kanna swirled the cool, clear liquid. The gray light from outside's mist caught onto the cups shimmering surface, reflecting in her brown eyes. Her optics looked soft and not very hopeful. "God, I am an utter mess."

So as she once again stared out to the courtyard, inaudible steps crept closer from behind. That slow, specter like waltz with the eerie ruffle of an Akatsuki cloak had brought the Uchiha into the kitchen now. He had paused though, maybe a foot behind Kanna. "…," she was not aware of his presence. And to be honest that was how he liked it.

Since that night, over and over like a broken record player her voice sang in Itachi's thoughts. He felt frustration, anger…but of course hid it beneath the thick surface of his expressionless facade. Arms strictly down by his sides, his right hand's fingers curled and clenched about the handle of a kunai. What was he up to…?

Itachi's sharingan eased into a half-lidded state now, just mesmerized on how clueless she was to him. Did Kanna have any idea how weak she was…how easily he could end it this evening? Make her eat her words. Just make it all right. 'Punishment…what punishment?' He pondered quietly. Itachi could not explain what he had been feeling. Like every poison, venom, toxin of his being which he had so carefully bottled away, had begun to bubble over with a chemical reaction. And the more he thought about it, the more it angered him, and the more he became angered…the harder it was to keep that straight face. Eyes widening madly behind her as the seconds passed by, if he stared to the back of Kanna's bared neck any longer with that kunai tightened in his fist, he was sure to…

"Move," Itachi demanded.

Instantly startled, Kanna lost grip of her glass and it shattered at the bottom of the sink. "Aw, Jesus Christ!" Heart beat pounding in her ears, Kanna on a reflex sent a nasty glare over her shoulder.

And of course her glare was nothing to the red blaze of those sharingan pair which stared down. "I…" Her flustered expression retreated. Sadly she had been use to her own voice for the past few days and finally hearing Itachi utter something, just caught her off guard.

"…," Uchiha before her, he would inwardly roll his eyes with frustration. She busted another glass. Not only were emotional outbursts, the blunt of word, and getting under his skin a few of her tendencies, but it also seemed cup smashing was too.

Bodies mirrored one another as the Haru still stood in the Uchiha's way of the sink. She would have moved quicker, but setting her sights down to his right hand she witnessed a bloodied kunai. 'Blood…but from who?' There was no one else in the manor but them and any civilization had to be many miles off. Did he have plans of using it on her? Kanna's eyes a bit wide, she really hoped not.

"So you're clumsy," Itachi casually stated in a monotone, "does that mean you're hard at hearing also?"

Scowling, Kanna side stepped and got out of his way.

Once the girl finally moved aside, Itachi turned the sink water on to a lukewarm. He had brought the kunai in his right hand up and took a wash cloth in the other. Holding the wash cloth beneath the running water for a moment, he'd give it a one-handed squeeze and run the fabric along his blade gently.

Kanna watched quietly by the doors which lead out to the courtyard. She wondered sometimes why she watched his movements so closely. How by now she knew he liked to conceal some of his features behind his long bangs. Cause anytime she caught him by himself and by a reflex he'd just tuck his hair behind his ears for an instant. Itachi was soon to brush them out.

He did not look up to Kanna at all, but he felt her eyes on him. Of course he noticed her staring on plenty of occasions. And the man figured it was because she was trying to somehow disentangle him. Whether that be true, or Itachi just not very aware, he allowed her to stare further.

Water running down into the glass a light pink, he'd finish cleaning his blade and drying it on the end of his cloak sleeve.

She'd inhale deeply then, before taking a chance. "Itachi-san…" Kanna called out.

He had already turned away from the sink and was walking towards the kitchen exit when she addressed him. Itachi no longer felt like he could bear to hear her. But he found himself pausing anyway.

Surprised that he stopped at all, Kanna gestured towards the clean kunai now clasped between his slender fingers. "Where did you…or what did you…?" She felt very anxious right now speaking with Itachi. Cause she knew he was displeased with her.

Kanna found herself watching closely yet again, as his slender index finger stretched out to run its tip over the cold steel of his kunai. Itachi would then just close those eyes and saunter out of the kitchen. Leaving Kanna standing by the doors and yes, once again with an incredulous look. How could he be like this? It almost seemed immature, the whole silent treatment. And maybe she was a bit immature too, cause it was really beginning to get under her skin how he was ignoring her.

'That emotionless bastard,' She bitterly thought.

Kanna parted the sliding doors and stepped out onto the deck. For just a moment she turned around to shut the doors behind her…when she felt this twinge of something. Something like…that feeling like you're being watched. Or that someone is by you, but you just can't see them.

"…," Fingers resting between the doors which she nearly shut, Kanna just looked curiously over her shoulder and listened carefully…

…Maybe she was just imagining things? Cause all she heard right now was the autumn ravens calling to one another and all she saw was the soggy death of autumn. Kanna hesitantly shrugged it off and stepped off the manor deck and onto the cold stone of the courtyard.

"Ugh…" she groaned, not feeling excruciating physical pain. But more so her body felt stressed, used up, and tired. Almost like she really, really needed some caffeine.

Hands on her hips as she exhaled heavily, Kanna's mind went through thought after thought of how to tap her chakra. But how could she when she didn't know what her problem was? Was it internal damage from her last battle, something she overlooked? Or maybe she just lost the will to fight. That seemed more likely of herself.

Hands clasped together in a position to seemingly pray, her fingers slid into a ram seal. Body calm and composed, she had to purge the Uchiha from her mind to concentrate. And as Kanna followed these steps which had been second nature to her once upon a time, she could feel that warmth of chakra inside her, but very slight. Like a little candle flame.

In her mind, she could almost make its burn out in the darkness of her. 'Barely anything…why is it so weak?' She questioned softly inside of her mind. Her small chakra made no sense to her.

Eyes shut, watching the back of her lids as her feeble chakra burned, it would suddenly flicker. As if a breeze just went by. Kanna felt her body sway then, her concentration seemingly broken as her eyes repeatedly blinked open, as if she had just awoken from a deep sleep.

"What the…?" she questioned no one particular.

Kanna hastily looked the misty courtyard up and down as if expecting to see someone. And when she didn't, Kanna yet again questioned herself. Maybe all this practice truly was exhausting her body and she just needed a break. About to step towards the manor deck, Kanna felt the earth suddenly trembling beneath her feet.

And though the trembling was small, it instantly caused her to panic. It seemed in the subconscious of her mind, that night when the rock shinobi forces attacked, was still lingering. Kanna stepped back fearfully, her brown eyes wide and looking to the ground as if expecting someone to burst out. 'Its them -- is it them?' her frightened voice repeated in her head.

In a matter of seconds the trembling became quaking. On the other side of the courtyard where the broken kunai targets were stacked, the heavy brick of the floor began to rise block by block. A trail beneath the earth was being dug, and on the surface to someone common it might seem a large beast were tunneling towards Kanna.

The Haru's eyes flashed open with absolute fear at the sight of the tremors. "…!" Mouth gaped open, she had made to scream but nothing came out. Hands coming up to clasp along her throat and slap at her Adams apple, her voice was completely gone.

'Oh my god I can't scream!' Eyes still wide with fear, whatever was beneath the earth was coming right at her full force. Kanna stumbled back but got up and ran. She thought she could run into the manor to Itachi, where she now felt safest. But she no longer saw it. It was as if there hadn't been a manor at all. 'What's going on? Someone help me! It's coming closer!'

Her screams echoed in her mind but went unheard to the outside world. All she saw before her as she ran was the vast forest of Earth Country. The gray and white bark confusing her as she ran between the trees, that open sky bellowing down. She gave a quick glance over her shoulder as she clumsily stumbled over a fallen tree. Still that thing beneath the earth tunneled after her, its clumping earth on the surface like a shark fin in the ocean. 'NO! Please go away!'

Somehow her legs got heavy and she fell into a mass of autumn leaves. Back propped up against a tree, Kanna wearily peered up. "…!" Closer, it was coming closer and now she couldn't move. What was going on? The manor it vanished, what of Itachi? Was he okay?

Her arms came up and shielded her face. The roar of the moving earth in her ears, the quaking ground, her own rapid heart beat drumming against her chest…

"…H-huh?" Kanna's exhale trembled, just like her body. Eyes at first squinted shut, ready for the pain of its attack. She now slowly opened them and looked over her arms which had went up to shield her.

It was gone. "It can't be…" the earth was smoothed over as if what she just saw never happened. Her voice even returned. "But I saw it! It was after me and I ran, and…" well Kanna was out in the forest. Though it seemed less misty, she could now hear those crows again. Even as she peered over the high and bare tree tops, Kanna could make out the roof of the manor.

"Then…" Kanna's eyebrows furrowed with confusion. She had seen something that wasn't there, she had heard something that didn't happen, and she felt something that slowly began to make sense. "It…it was a genjutsu," She breathed in exhaustion

"Heh, I didn't actually believe you that my _doubt of heaven _jutsu, would work so easily on a kegare member," laughed a female voice. "Guess you were right Ceres-kun, this girl is pathetic."

Kanna heard the voice loud and clear and she knew she was in reality. Too fearful to expose her back to whoever was out there, she blindly felt behind her for a branch to aid in gaining back her stance. "Whose out there -- show yourself!" Kanna called out.

_Ku, ku, ku…_

Laughter coming from beneath the earth, she once again shielded her eyes as a small explosion went off. Rocks and dirt spraying everywhere and even on her, once the earth came to another stand still she looked back up. Two rock shinobi stood before her now. One was the female voice Kanna heard, the other was obviously a male by his built and who appeared to be wearing a gas mask.

Kanna felt her stomach drop to her knees then. "You're forces of Iwagakure…"

The female rock shinobi had a rather built physique, yet with feminine features of shoulder length blonde hair pulled back by her rock forehead protector. "I see, so you're not all looks," she mocked in a really high nasally voice.

Kanna furrowed her eyebrows then, not exactly enjoying another female back talking. "Why did you bring me out here, what business do you-" she paused, the male named Ceres rose his hand for silence.

"Sorry that we scared you Kanna-hime," his voice was not as menacing and annoying as the female, but it was obscured by his gas mask. "But you see Juno-chan and I had to draw you away from the manor. Since it seems you were in quite powerful company."

The Haru pretty much figured he was talking about Itachi. But when he said that they needed to draw her out here, and of course away from Itachi, well she highly doubted they were sent here on a rescue mission. "To kill me, you're here to kill me. Correct?" Kanna had regained her stance and now stared behind them. She wanted to see if there were any more of them, just in case she tried to run.

The female Juno smirked. "Too bad Vesta-chan and Pallas-kun are missing out on this. Heh, but yes Kanna-_hime_," Juno looked to Ceres, mocking his use of that honorific on Kanna. "we've been sent here for your flower fragrant head."

Glaring to the rock shinobi, Kanna felt immense fear because if they were sent here to kill her, what fight could she put up? "Well…why?" Kanna questioned. She was trying to draw out time. So maybe she could come up with a plan of escape.

Juno stepped forward, she then put her left fist in her right palm so she could crack her knuckles out loud, as if attempting to intimidate Kanna further. "Because, one…you're of Kusagakure. And two, you're a Haru. And frankly I think the rest of your clan misses you. So let's get this show on the road bitch, stand still so I can put my fist through your skull!" She wound up her left fist then as Kanna's back pressed onto another tree.

"Juno-chan!" called the masked rock shinobi.

His female partner turned around and flailed her arms out. "What now?"

Ceres stepped forward, grabbing his partner by her shoulder he whispered harshly in her ear. "The scroll specifically read we're to approach her with _extreme _caution."

Juno scowled and pushed him away roughly. "How fuckin' stupid!" She bit. "Look at this broad, she's trembling in fear and was so easily caught in my genjutsu. What possible threat could she be to us, huh?"

Ceres seemed to be thinking this over as he looked to Kanna. Peering her up and down, she did seem rather fragile and didn't even have any weapons on her. Lolling his head to the side, hands on his hips, he nodded his head. "All right…sorry Kanna-hime, but orders are orders."

The female rock shinobi sighed heavily. "Why must you have your nose pressed so closely to the rule book? I swear…" Juno then rolled her shoulders and walked right up to Kanna..

"Get away from me!" the Haru warned, \stepping backwards quickly. Only to lose her stepping and stumble back. The female rock shinobi just heckled.

"Hold still you, it'll be over fast if my fist crushes your brain in. Unless you want me to beat that pretty little face over and over till your swollen bruises cut your breathing off," she watched Kanna scoot herself back and get wedged between a log and standing tree. Juno stepped atop the log and peered down. "Either way its fun for me."

"Hurry up Juno-chan," called Ceres, hands still on his hips as he peered up to the trees, on guard for anyone.

"I'm hurrying, I'm hurrying. Don't shove that stick too far up your ass…sheesh. Men are so complicated, don't you think Kanna-hime?" Juno playfully put her foot on Kanna's head.

"Get your foot off of me!" Kanna shouted, shoving Juno's large foot from her forehead.

"Pft, how are you in such a bad mood? If I were locked up in a estate with thee Uchiha Itachi, heh…" Juno put a thoughtful look on. "Is he really all that blood thirsty? Cause to be honest that turns me on the most, when they're willing to stick a kunai in you when you're naughty." She gave a little snarl, then twisted a lock of blonde hair about her middle finger.

The Haru began to hear her blood pumping in her ears again. Wedged between a log and a tree, no where to go, the enemy staring down to her. This wasn't how she wanted to go. Like the rest of her clan, at the hands of some rock shinobi. "Stop…please let me go," she pleaded.

Ceres just sighed, he could see Juno toying with that Haru. "_Now_ Juno-chan, kill her _now_. We won't get another chance like this."

Kanna could feel the roots of this tree sticking in her back, leaves damp and soaking into her clothing. Glaring up towards the rock kunoichi, Kanna quickly closed her eyes. 'It wasn't suppose to end like this...'

"Awe, you succumb so nicely. Like an insect staring back…like a dying doe," winding back her fist again, she decided a quick blow to Kanna's forehead would do it. "Now hold your breath. You know, like when you get your ears pierced. One…two…three- exhale!"

'Kouji…forgive me I wasn't able to save you,' Of course the first thing on her mind, her little brother. Kanna shriveled into the ground ready for the blow, her blood pumped with fear and the end just was coming too soon. 'If I die here, if I die now…there will be no rescuing him.' All she was trying for was about to go to waste. And…she just couldn't let that happen.

Without a second thought, on a impulse of fear and the will to live. Kanna's head went back and she felt the roughness of the bark. "NO!" her throat released, hands slapping down onto the moist soil. Coexisting with her words of defiance to death, she heard the sound of flesh being pierced through.

"…," the Haru held her breathe then. How could she hear the sound of flesh being pierced through, when Juno was going to punch her fist in her skull? And unlike after silence of that genjutsu, Kanna heard thick and wet coughing. She opened her eyes.

"You…you bitch…" Juno gurgled.

The rock kunoichi had her hands wrapped around a thick, spiraled form of green vine adorned with red thorns. Hands which had tried to rip it out of her gut, were now pierced through by the thorn like stigmata.

Kanna looked in disbelief. "H-how did I? Did I even…?" the Haru stuttered in marvel, not even noticing the drops of warm blood dripping onto her face.

"Juno-chan, what's taking so long?" Ceres called back. He had been standing on watch and suddenly it went quiet. Peering over his shoulder to Juno carelessly, his eyes widened. His partner was heaved over on a plant like pike. And now he saw the Haru running for it. "God dammit, I knew we should have been more cautious!"

Leaving the rock kunoichi dead on that pulsating vine, Kanna slid down a hill of leaves. She decided it'd be best to round her way back to the manor. "Huh-" she hit the ground and staggered up. Where was Itachi? How come he wasn't out here, hadn't he sensed them? 'Or he just figures they're doing him a favor…' Kanna bit her bottom lip, feeling her yukata tear in a sharp bush.

Ceres quickly pursued Kanna. He could see her now pushing through bramble, her long black hair seemed stuck so she was at a good stand still. The flash of hand seals as he became airborne, 'earth style: crippling crush no jutsu!'

Leafy earth beneath her quaking, Kanna lost her footing just as a fist of earth punched up from behind her, its mark had been her spine. For once she was thankful for her clumsiness. But as she tore her hair from the brambles, the ground beneath her feet ruptured. Two fists of solid rock grabbed her legs. "Err -- AH!" Kanna's scream pierced the forest.

She felt this searing pain then, those masses of rock had broken both of her legs and the hurt was indescribable. Flat on the ground, those rock hands receded, leaving her legs covered in her own blood and bent in odd directions. Looking to them in horror, this was a major wound.

"Huh…huh!" Kanna grit her teeth and gasped in pain.

Male rock shinobi approaching, his hands were bent in a ox seal. "We underestimated you. I apologize Kanna-hime, but I'm not going to fool around and let you surprise me like you did with Ju--!" Yet again the earth trembled as if a volcano were close by. Earth angrily rising up, multiple fists of rock pounded into Ceres, sending him right in front of Kanna crushed to the ground. All she could see was his head and shoulders struggling to break free of the massive rock fists holding him down. Kanna's ears for the instant she stopped groaning in pain, caught the rock shinobi's grunts of agony.

Itachi with his skilled sharingan eyes, had caught the hand seals which the rock shinobi used to cripple Kanna's legs. Instantly he copied that jutsu and used it against Ceres. Itachi now walked out from behind a tree and stared down to the rock shinobi.

The Uchiha had been a bit careless this morning. Upon a early walk, he had stealthy came upon a rock kunoichi scouting the perimeter of the manor. Of course he asked no questions since the Tsuchikage most likely deployed his shinobi throughout the lands to keep safe from quiet invaders. So the Uchiha killed her. It hadn't been till after he got back to the manor to wipe the rock kunoichi's blood from his kunai, that he had noticed another rock shinobi wandering dangerously close to the manor front. And in that instant he went to take care of him, Kanna had been corrupted by that genjutsu and lead off.

Ceres with tears in his eyes, peered painfully to the Uchiha. "You!" he exclaimed.

Itachi did not look impressed by his courage even after being bombarded by tons of rock and still surviving. No, instead the Uchiha's sharingan were narrowed dangerously, the red a brilliant lit fire. "Even if you were to pull yourself free, your chance of death is certain." Cause the Uchiha could easily finish it now if he wanted. But no, it would be stupid to kill him now. Instead, some intense interrogation was in order.

Itachi glared over the high collar of his cloak. "What did you want with Kanna-san?"

Ceres closed his eyes, knowing Itachi probably didn't need to wait around for him to say anything. The Uchiha would then scowl. "Your resistance is bothersome. If you wish to leave this manor with at least one of your bones unbroken…I think it would be wise of you to speak now," Itachi's tone had lowered menacingly. He could hear Kanna in the background now, groaning in agony.

To the Uchiha, it was just a matter of time before her blood trait kicked in and she'd heal. So he pressed on with Ceres. Holding the ox seal beneath the draped sleeves f his akatsuki cloak, chakra pulsed from the Uchiha.

The rock shinobi shouted in pain then as Itachi had tightened the rock fists. "I'll ask you one more time…what did you want with Kanna-san?" Expression indifferent to the pain of the rock shinobi, Itachi just watched blood course from between the stone fingers as it squeezed the rock shinobi in its vice grip.

Ceres opened his mouth. "Its…its just not her we're after!"

Appearing absolutely emotionless towards the rock shinobi who was being reduced to nothing but a skin sack of powdered bone, the Uchiha decided he needed more info than that. "That's not good enough," Itachi responded, scowl deepening. About to induce more pain on Ceres, Kanna's sobbing became louder all of a sudden.

"…?" Itachi paused. The Uchiha's expression had been indifferent to Ceres and his agony as he crushed him in his own jutsu all along. But now Itachi lost that sinister glint as he peered over his shoulder slowly. Why was she crying in pain still?

Leaning back on her hands, Kanna now got full sight of her legs and the severe injuries. Legs limp, knees softly bended towards each other, streams of blood ran down along her thighs and from gashes atop her feet. "I can't stop bleeding…Itachi-san I can't stop bleeding!" Kanna shouted in hysterics.

Without even a care for the rock shinobi he had in a painful bind, Itachi turned around and went to Kanna's side. His eyes stared her wounds up and down. Right now with sharingan, he could see his own chakra flow, the rock shinobi's…but not Kanna's? Back at the manor he could, but not know. "Calm down, you'll only bleed faster," he warned tonelessly.

Itachi knelt himself down, hands eased on Kanna's knees he'd gently slide his palms along her thighs, moving up the bloodied cloth of her yukata. "…." His sharingan would widen for an instant at the sight of her severe leg injuries. It appeared her legs were fractured in multiple pieces. And the cause of her bleeding was from shards of her own bone tearing to the surface. 'Why is she not healing?'

She inhaled and exhaled quickly, eyes wide and fearful of all the things that seemed wrong with her body now. First her chakra being so minimal and now she couldn't heal herself. "I'm going to die…oh my god I'm going to die!" Like Kyuusai, like her elder brother and the rest of her clan.

Itachi's eyebrows bent with frustration. "Calm down, I told you before. You'll bleed faster if you panic…" But it seemed too late, Kanna was having a full blown panic attack. He had to calm her down somehow or she would die. But Itachi couldn't quite come up with a plan to calm her hysterical crying.

Kanna looked horrified to her immovable limbs. Was she going to be paralyzed after this even if she survived? "Itachi-san you were right, I am an utter mess…" she sobbed, shaking her head over and over.

And then she felt hands cup her face gently. 'What is he doing?' Brown sights blurred over with tears, yet wide with unknowing, Kanna was caught once again in the stare of Itachi's intense blood trait. Expression bent with a strange concern and to what seemed utterly foreign to Kanna on the Uchiha's face, his thumb wiped away Juno's blood splatters from her face.

"What…what are you doing?" the Haru inquired.

At this point, hearing Kanna scream in agony and sob like she was, made his gut twist up somehow. Maybe if he had been out there in the courtyard with her, she wouldn't have been lead off by their illusions. And she wouldn't be in front of him now, obviously embarrassed he was seeing her in such a frantic and scared state of mind. And wow…when girls cried, they sure did let it out. It was really annoying.

"Kanna-san, look at me," Itachi's voice was very calm then. As if he fought no battle just minutes before. And as Kanna kept shaking her head frantically, his hands cupped her face a bit more stern. "Calm down…I'm not going to let you die…"

Where was that girl from the beginning, who looked at him in defiance? Who demanded she know where her brother was being held hostage…the one who shot out questions without probably much thought?

Haru Kanna trembled, the weakness of her blood loss had even ran her flesh iron cold. And yet she stared to him completely. Average brown optics locked with the exotic sharingan, could she trust her life with him? Cause anyone could doubt a expression of concern. Like the very faint one on his face right now…Could it actually be authentic?

She sobbed, yet stared to sharingan. And soon the three tomoe circling his main pupil then began to spin. Kanna's eyes widened at the strange phenomenon. "Itachi…wait I'm…" Her eyes lidded shut then, hypnotized into sleep by Itachi's sharingan.

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a/n: Chapter 12 is here! And well...I didn't struggle too much with this chapter. But as the turning point in both characters starts to make itself present, I'm trying to keep as true to the character's personality as best as I can. The last part of this chapter was difficult for me. Cause its hard to imagine Itachi showing any type of emotion, so I hope I made it slight enough to be him, yet different enough to show change in his attitude towards the OC. 

Also, I hope the rock shinobi weren't a total surprise. Cause I did mention them before, only thing was...uh, er well it was a LONG while back. So my bad it took me so long to bring them back in the picture. Okay so I really hope this chapter was good enough. And of course reviews good and or bad, are welcomed. Think you have some advice though? Well...Lol then share it with me! Check my fanfic profile for contact info and sneak a peak at my page on myspace. Oh and also...**Ayla and Katie**, thanks for the support ladies!

-connie

p.s. SOMEDAY...SOME CHAPTER, there _will _be a nosebleed. I promise!


	13. regret punishment comfort

**!WARNING! **Towards the very end of this chapter there is a very minor nosebleed. Well really it depends on the reader's point of view, but I'm just giving a heads up. Also, I won't be posting anymore warnings for the soon to come future nosebleeds. There won't be anything very minor about them either. But of course they'll be safe enough to be labeled M. Cause that's what this fic is rated under. Thank you!

* * *

_"Before the dawn I am exposed..."_

A sharp intake of chilling air cut deep silence then. An atmosphere of fog met her already blurred sight; a haze over the scenery in which she found herself shivering in the dark, three centimeters tall. With that feeling of smallness, Kanna knew she was present in this confused atmosphere. Wherever it was.

Her breath trembled in this cold space, knees buckled together as they pressed onto the jagged harshness of a blacktop road stretching out before her. And in the distance of that haze from what her blurred vision could hone in on, she saw white picket fences. Those white picket fences surrounded various homes that appeared to have been doused in gloom from a recent rainfall. "This place is so familiar…" she heard herself echo, but was unable to feel the soft movements of her own mouth.

In this place she would then carry her form up. Not at all trembling or frail, Kanna did not feel fright in this situation yet. For though this dim overcast, sad latitude could asphyxiate a most joyous person, the young woman felt so comfortable. Obvious now as she stepped forward to walk the desolate roads. Arms crossed over her bust to shield from the cold, barefoot she sloshed her way down these rain swept streets drawn by an unseen force. "My god I know this place," Kanna heard herself speak. And soon the familiar truth tingled along her mouth causing Kanna to finger her bottom lip- "Home."

Haru Kanna's form moved unaccompanied by a shadow, nor with a moon or sun to guide. Without much question, her eyes indulged blissfully on what she witnessed. The Haru compound was so orderly. Though homes were built no larger than the one next door, they all had their own distinguishable features. Not one tree in a front yard was the same as another on the block. Flower gardens grew across lawns at different lengths, splotched with colors dark and light like the canvas of a oil painted landscape. Along the roadside were even plotted grounds of vegetable patches; a flower barrel at ever street corner. Who could ever believe that this part of a village, could inhabit an infamous shinobi clan.

It felt so good to see all of this. An unimaginable swell of joy bloated her chest, Kanna almost felt like screaming for someone. Calling out all her cousins, aunts, and uncles. She wanted nothing more than to see their faces. Though they would all probably look at her with the utmost suspicion, for the last time they probably ever saw Kanna show any affection towards them, was when she wanted something. It would be like a horrible omen bearing a letter of prosperity and good joy.

Kanna could no longer contain herself. "Hello!" She called out to the desolation. But no response. So she cupped her hands about her mouth to magnify her voice. "Hello--?"

_Boom…_

The young woman paused. She had heard an intense sound just then. Like that of a war drum. Her senses were flared out now as she stood in the unknowing. Eyes wide, taking in every detail, ears straining for any sound. Yet all together she sensed a incoming doom. She felt dread just swallow her whole. "No, this isn't real. It can't be. I witnessed these homes torn back by ninjutsu. I smelled the foreign invaders intent to kill…"

She drew in another trembling breath. Reality was rather cruel. And by now she was use to it. "None of this is real."

Another immense boom sounded off in the distance, signifying change. Kanna merely blinked once and witnessed the dark world around her shift to an unnatural appearance. Everything went brilliant white, like that of a negative photo. The brightness had caused her to turn away, though the loud booming startled her so much she once again stared about like a doe caught in a oat field.

Breath flighty as the booming became louder, quicker, in the rhythm of a oncoming battle. "The compound square, its coming from there!" Without question she dashed forward in the negative world. Sky turned ivory, what had been white fences were now black pikes sticking up from the soil. And the closer she got, the louder those drums beat.

Kanna saw the black road coming to a clean end, as if the fog of this world had cropped it just before the village square. "Hello!" She attempted to call over the drums. "Please, someone answer me! Where is this sound coming from?"

About to step forward, Kanna hesitated. The road ended so suddenly, swallowed up by the white fog. She didn't know what was beyond it, what she was to expect. Her lips pressed together nervously. She felt as if she didn't step into the compound square, the drums would never cease. "I'm not afraid…I'm not afraid," lips curled so her teeth were bare, eyebrows wrinkled upward, Kanna possessed the expression of terror just before a jump. But instead of a jump, Kanna ran into the white fog, bravery fed by the hope of finding life within the ghostly white depths.

_Boom, boom, boom…_

"Nii-san!"

If this world was real or not, the sight of Kyuusai knelt on the ground before her in the compound square, totally obliterated the questioning of truth or lies. She hurried forward and threw herself onto Haru Kyuusai. "Nii-san, oh nii-san you're alive!"

She felt that burn in her eyes. How irritating it was that she cried so often now. Fingers clenched onto the cloth of his shinobi vest, her face buried in his long black hair, Kanna felt herself ready to sob uncontrollably. "Brother, why do you not speak to me?"

"…," Kyuusai just knelt there, his head hung low, arms out as if he were about to bow.

"Nii-san?" Kanna's face surfaced from Kyuusai's dark mane. She realized his face was hidden from her. "Brother, look at me," she told.

"…," Kyuusai merely breathed.

After so much seclusion. All the loneliness and hardships she had gone through, the last thing she wanted was Kyuusai to ignore her. Especially when she couldn't hold back such embarrassing emotion. So much silence, Kanna felt an immense rage that her older brother ignored her. So her hands induced a vice grip onto his shoulders and she forcefully spun him around. "Look at me!" she shouted.

With her elder brother's form now twisted about, his head was still hung low. Yet he stirred, as if just noticing Kanna was there. "Imoto," Kyuusai whispered. His voice had that calmness to it, its gentle happiness somehow surviving in this space. And as his digits began to climb up her forearm, his voice cracked. "Lies, all lies…"

Kanna was a bit taken aback by his peculiar words. "Wh-what are you saying?" her eyebrows furrowed upward, bottom lip trembling so slightly.

Her brother's digits continued to feel blindly. Yet instead of soft fleshy fingertips, there was a stiff smoothness walking up Kanna's skin, "Why do you lie imoto? Do you think it gives us honor that our final remnants wither away?" Now his digits took hold of the front of her clan yukata.

The young woman shook her head, feeling this unsettling air now. "Honor? No, I don't think it would. But nii-san, I don't know what to do. I'm lost…without you, without the clan," this was the first time she ever admitted to her own blood, how much she missed them.

Dragging himself forward, Kyuusai cupped Kanna's face desperately. "Do not wither, imoto…"

When Kyuusai had taken hold of his little sister's face, her brown sights had widened so much in shock, that they resembled the moon and sun which lacked in this world. He no longer had hands, only bare bone had reached out to hold her. Those smooth fingertips clacking against one another, Kyuusai continued to hold onto Kanna desperately.

"Do not wither imoto…Cease to exist. Sing lies!"

"Kyuusai, you're dead!" Kanna shouted, trying to tear his bony hands from her. Kyuusai then raised his head up. No longer did flesh mold a beautiful face. Where his brown eyes had been, those so similar to Kanna's and Kouji's; now laid gaping holes. "Everything is so confusing…"

Black strands hung like thick wire from his dried scalp, curling about Kanna's own fingers as she attempted to push him away. When suddenly he jabbed his hand into his shinobi flak jacket. Kanna fearfully witnessed him withdraw a syringe. A neon green liquid filled the piston, small bits of it squirted from the hollow needle's point as he would thrust it forward.

She had tried to throw herself back from him, but it was too late. She had felt the needle point break passed the flesh of her neck, dig its way into a vein. From the pain she winced, and in that time her eyes averted she had looked up to see Kyuusai gliding backwards in the fog.

"Nii-san!" she called. But the girl hadn't the time to worry or solve anything about her brother, as she now caught a different sight. "No…" Kanna stared to her drawn out arms, to her curling fingers. The flesh had been firm and steady, but no longer. Like a ball of wax held near an open flame, her flesh began to bubble, bunch, then spill over in clumps. This fear of hers was reoccurring.

A light clatter to her right, the syringe had fallen from her neck, its piston emptied since the neon liquid now pulsed threw her veins. Over and over she tried to cup her flesh and slap it back on the bone. But it didn't stay. And in the distance she kept hearing Kyuusai, repeat- _"Do not wither…"_

"COME BACK!" she screamed. "I don't want to wither! I don't want to fade away!" Curling herself into a fetal position, the female Haru laid in a puddle of herself. Kyuusai's words burned very deep. And now she realized, though she laid in her family compound, seeing all that was familiar. It wasn't real, it couldn't be real anymore. She preferred to live in truth, even if it was without her family. Even if it was with those dangerous strangers.

_Boom, boom, boom…_

There was that horrifying beat again. Her eyes flashed open. "The compound?" The homes began to shrivel and fold up, crumbling to the ground in ash as dawn would cast red light across the past. And standing in front of the rising sun, tall shadows stretched out to envelope Kanna whole. Frightening they were, yes. Malevolent, no doubt. But the effect of that injection came to a halt as their darkness enclosed about her. Skin no longer running, she didn't feel fear. All Kanna felt was as if …something all this time had been displayed out in front of her. After debate, after arguing with herself…she finally made up her mind.

"Akatsuki."

The call of hunger had rose him from a chair which he placed out on the manor deck. Itachi could have fallen asleep out here. For the rain made such a beautiful sound as it poured down, that chilling air was just so soothing to him as well. Too bad it didn't work on his mind. For sleep was difficult when the only thing, or person, he could think about was Kanna.

"That foolish girl," he scoffed. The reason she was on his mind, it wasn't that Kanna was some transfixing being that he found so wonderful. On the contrary, he didn't find her wonderful at all. Itachi found Kanna brought nothing but problems. He couldn't understand how someone so short and bad-tempered could bring such trouble to him.

Back in the manor, he stared down the long corridor of bedrooms. To imagine, that if he hadn't got back to the manor in time, his entire mission would have been severed, not even half way complete! Kanna could have died if he hadn't shown up. 'She is unable to protect herself. In all she is useless to Akatsuki…' And Itachi knew this. He had since he set sights on her.

The soft patting of his bare feet moved down the long hall, until he came to a pause. Itachi stood outside Kanna's open bedroom door. He stood strict, body facing forward, it was as if he had been frozen in mid-step against his will. 'And if she is so useless…why do I continue to be the fool who thinks he can change that?' scowl deepening as he thought, Itachi almost felt like eating any insult he gave the girl. Cause every time Itachi insulted her, it was as if he forgot moments later and continued to work towards some goal which was impossible. He didn't like to be made a clueless fool.

Yet he slowly became aware of something he felt back in the forest this early morning. When he had came upon that rock shinobi, who had so cruelly crushed Kanna's limbs so she could no longer run from him. Itachi felt anger. Maybe it really was because Kanna was his mission and that rock shinobi was about to screw it all up for Itachi. But just the thought that Kanna had been running with fear, induced to tears…that rock shinobi just taking full advantage of that. It just made Itachi's lip curl. It was distasteful.

Sharingan peering to the side, Kanna just stirred. 'But I am no one to judge what sort of killing is distasteful.' Perhaps Itachi wasn't the one to judge distasteful killing. But it was odd enough that he even considered such. The man who slaughtered his entire family…but one.

He continued to stand in the open doorway. Sharingan had their blazing red scrutiny on the bumpy blankets, looking for the tiniest indication that she was awake. And as the moments passed, the Uchiha begin to think this was a bit ridiculous. He had better things to do, other things to worry about. So with a heavy exhale, scowl still creasing those thin lips downward, Itachi made his way into the kitchen.

"…," Kanna had been awake for a good hour or two. She spent practically all of that time interpreting her dream, before she forgot it. Which so often happened with dreams. Yet one could only get frustrated if they forgot a good dream. Kanna in fact was trying to remember and interpret a nightmare more like. Also, she had been fully aware that Itachi was standing in her bedroom doorway. It was just…she found it impossible to turn around to face him. She couldn't take that glare of displeasure. And what would she say? _'Oh sorry if I insult you, bring blood thirsty shinobi our way, and oh -- stab you in the chest. But thanks for saving me!' _Somehow that didn't sound right.

A hand raising up from beneath the folds of blankets, Kanna wiped the sides of her mouth. She really was a deep sleeper. The line of drool starting at the crease of her mouth and dribbling down her jaw sure did give it away. "Some habits die hard," Kanna groaned, staring to the wet slick on the back of her hand. Too bad out of all her habitual unpleasantness, this one decided to stick around.

Laying there on her back, head lolled to the side on a lumpy pillow, Kanna stared out her bedroom window. It was half drawn open, allowing her to see the darkness. Yet she was still able to make out the shimmer of rain sticking to a tree branch which looked like it was trying to plunk its limb in the manor.

Kanna recalled the strange expression which surfaced on Itachi's face as he cupped her own, and distinctly said he wouldn't let her die. To her it was out of character for Itachi to act in such a away. She knew Itachi was a person, but he hid so much and emotion was one of the many. Yet he showed her concern. And it felt good. Kanna couldn't remember the last time someone showed concern for her. "Even if it was brief…"

Eyes strict on the window, but really looking at nothing, Kanna's right foot twitched a bit. "I can't lay here any longer," Kanna sat up and threw her legs over the bedside. She felt this dull pain, like she had bruises from her ankles up to her hips. "Gah," making a sour face, she used the bedside table for support.

Now she stood, a miracle for someone who had multiple fractures just this morning. But like a newborn cloven hoofed animal, Kanna was walking rather wobbly and her knees were bent in. It probably had to do with the bandages reaching from her ankles up to her thighs. They were making movement rather difficult. "He even bandaged me," Kanna whispered to herself, eyebrows raised in amazement.

Making her way out of the bedroom, Kanna had to use the walls for support. She was drowsy and uncomfortable, but it was better than laying in bed. Though she couldn't help but glower at how stupid she must look right now. Like a drunken teenager making her way down her sorority house hall bowlegged. But it was better than laying in bed feeling guilty cause she was some needless thing that took up space.

So along the corridor she walked, until out of the darkness throughout the manor, a light shone ahead. It was coming from the kitchen. There was some doubt in herself. Kanna knew she was free from embarrassing or getting herself in trouble if she stayed in her room. But nothing would get accomplished if she continued to hide. That was one thing she was able to interpret from her dream.

A flutter of flame could be heard, as Itachi turned one of the stove's burners on. He brought over an old tea kettle. He had washed it, filled it with sink water, and now placed it on the lit burner. The Uchiha was hungry, but really not in the mood to cook anything. Or rather he didn't know how to cook and wouldn't embarrass himself by trying. Head turning to the side, he stared out to the dark courtyard as the rain continued to beat down against its stone. "Go back to bed Kanna-san," Itachi calmly stated, not moving his eyes from their resting spot.

Kanna slapped her hand onto the tile counter, just barely catching herself before her knees gave way. "I'm not tired," she replied quickly. But he probably hadn't meant for her to go to bed cause of sleepiness.

Standing there, staring to Itachi's back as his form was strict as ever. Kanna wouldn't allow that awkward silence to suck her dry again. "Itachi-san," started Kanna, as she slowly eased herself onto a bar chair which was pulled up to the kitchen counter.

"…," Itachi peered over his shoulder, acknowledging that he was listening, but just not so intently.

A relief she felt in knowing he no longer was following the silent treatment, Kanna carefully spoke, "I want to ask you about the rock shinobi…"

At first she witnessed his glare narrow. But for once he wasn't insulted by anything she just said. Instead Itachi was merely frustrated thinking back on how little he got from the rock shinobi. "I was unable to further interrogate him."

The young woman gave a questionable look. Itachi was probably expecting her confusion though, cause he answered before she could question further, "he was carrying cyanide capsules," the Uchiha explained, in that careless tone.

Kanna frowned almost in disbelief, "He was so intent on keeping his objective secret… that he killed himself," head tilted to the side, chin practically resting on her shoulder, Kanna had went into thought. "But what of …the rock kunoichi, his partner?"

The Uchiha then raised his elegant eyebrows in a slight surprise. He would have came right out and insensitively told Kanna she killed the rock kunoichi. But the way she was looking to him, how Kanna sat fidgeting her fingers…she honestly didn't know?

A soft bubbling could be heard then as the water began to boil in the tea kettle, yet it hadn't caught their attention. "The kunoichi died," said Itachi, turning his body to face Kanna. His arms were crossed and he peered to her seriously.

"She's dead?" Kanna recalled the blonde kunoichi. Her arrogance, nasally voice, and how she was so more than willing to kill another.

Itachi combed his slender fingers through his bangs, somewhat debating on how he was going to remind her about how exactly that rock kunoichi met her demise. "So you don't recall then."

"…recall what?" Kanna inquired hesitantly.

Itachi exhaled, "you impaled her." To be honest he said that a lot more sensitive in his mind, but it came out all wrong.

Whether or not either of them enjoyed this, the awkward silence fell. Itachi witnessed Kanna's eyes widen towards him, their shape almost two perfect circles. It was as if reality backhanded her. "O-oh…" Kanna stuttered. Itachi heard a distinct popping sound then. He soon realized Kanna was popping her knuckles. It was a nervous habit. And really the Uchiha was just waiting for her to throw a fit of some sort.

But instead, he didn't witness the beginning of a tantrum. Instead Kanna's expression told that of guilt. Which threw Itachi off even more. The kunoichi she had killed had full intentions of killing Kanna, and here she was feeling guilt?

"It was either her or myself," Kanna suddenly said, tone far stronger than before.

About to turn his attention to the kettle, Itachi peered up. "…What did you say?" he inquired a bit more abruptly than he would have liked.

She sighed heavily, now recalling what had happened. "I said: it was either her or myself. And I chose myself…"cause who else would be able to rescue her brother?

No one. If Kanna died Akatsuki would have no need for Kouji. He was far too young and fragile to do much. Well in his big sister's eyes at least. And in all honesty, Kanna did feel guilt for the rock kunoichi. She had been someone's daughter, perhaps someone's sister and she didn't make it back to Iwagakure. Unfortunately that was the life of a shinobi. Sometimes you come back from missions and sometimes you don't. Sadly, it was difficult to come to terms with such for some people.

She ran short of knuckles to pop and her head then hung a bit low. "It seems I need to get reacquainted with shinobi conduct…" the young woman spoke, her eyes in a soft half-lidded state as she attempted to put a brave look on.

"…," Itachi's expression was at a standstill. Finally there was some progress with her. And yet…perhaps this was all he could expect from her.

The Uchiha watched Kanna a moment longer. Yet her long black hair was beginning to slide down along her shoulders and obscure sight of her heart-shaped face. "Believe me Kanna-san, killing doesn't get any easier…" hand reaching out, he went to grab for the tea kettle's handle.

She nodded her head, fully understanding. But then she heard a loud _crash_, which startled her. Looking up, it seemed the tea kettle handle had been far too hot and Itachi had dropped it back onto the stove. "Did you…did you just burn yourself?" She questioned, voice with a tone of astonishment. Kanna was taken aback and blinked a few times. It was odd seeing him fumble with something as simple as a tea kettle. Yet she was wise enough to hide her amusement.

Itachi appeared like he wished to curse, but swallowed his pride and instead glared angrily to his open palm as if it wasn't apart of his body and it grabbed the tea kettle without any dictation from him. There was a violent pink mark stretching across his open hand and really it didn't feel very pleasant.

Kanna had stood up and walked a bit more correctly around the kitchen counter. Of course she had to grip onto the sides for support. But she was able to make it to Itachi's side without falling over. Even a bigger feat, she had yet to laugh. "Here let me see," Kanna took hold of Itachi's wrist without any hesitation and coiled it against her chest.

"…?" Itachi looked surprised by this. But his expression towards humiliation in knowing a tea kettle got the best of him--in front of Kanna no less, then brought about a dangerous scowl. Somehow her witnessing this made things far worse for him than burning himself alone.

She upturned Itachi's hand so his palm was open and bared to her. "When a tea kettle is placed on a burner that large, its handle gets very hot," she gently ran her thumb around the pink puckering mark on his pale skin.

"Obviously," the Uchiha bit. He was actually fully aware of that, but his mind had been elsewhere.

Kanna had found this amusing and it was hard to keep a straight face. "Let's put it under cold water before you get a blister." As if he was unable to locate the kitchen sink by himself, Kanna lead the Uchiha by his wrist. Turning the nozzle labeled with a C, she stuck Itachi's hand beneath the faucet.

And as she watched the cold water wash over, her expression softened. "…My older brother use to fumble in the kitchen," she continued to hold Itachi's throbbing hand beneath the running water. "He could hardly boil water without hurting himself or making a disaster. You would think being a Mama's boy, he'd know his way around a pot and pan, " and suddenly, to her surprise and even Itachi's…Kanna let laughter slip.

The Uchiha's expression went soft. It was the first time he heard her do such. It was the first time in a long time he had someone like her laugh next to him. Yet Kanna's laughter wasn't the most pleasant he had ever heard. In fact it was rather deep and she gasped before she started up again. Yet it was…charming in some weird way.

Those feminine shaped sharingan, which were heavily lashed, eased shut with the feel of Kanna again running her thumb smoothly about his open palm. Cool water relieving the pain, Itachi lolled his head to the side so he could peer to Kanna. "You had an older brother?" he questioned in a tone that wasn't menacing, but calm.

She then looked up, as if surprised Itachi knew she had an older brother. But of course he knew, she just explained it. The Haru pressed her lips together, then nodded her head. "Yes." Kanna turned the water off. "Kyuusai, he was so wonderful at everything…" The young woman recalled her dream, she didn't want to remember her older brother like that. "Became a jounin at twelve. Then was recruited into the Kegare…didn't take him long to be promoted to captain of the squad."

Itachi was still fully aware Kanna had his hand. Her thumb still running across his flesh…he didn't feel like interrupting her though.

Inhaling deeply, Kanna had a dreamy look on. She could just remember how much she idolized her older brother. With their father gone it was his duty to represent the clan in Kusagakure. And he did it so well. Kanna even felt jealousy towards him. But now- "He met the same fate as the rest of my clan." Kanna suddenly broke the peaceful memories with the sharp point of reality. "Died protecting those he loved, I bet that's how he saw it." Kanna took a paper towel and began to dab Itachi's burn. "…Kouji just turned thirteen this fall and Kyuusai…well he'd be about your age next spring."

The Uchiha hadn't known she had an older brother prior to this conversation. But instantly knew not to question about him further. Cause he didn't need to take a guess that Haru Kyuusai was no longer apart of this world. So it was probable that she was more sensitive on the subject of her older brother, than her younger.

He continued to look at Kanna from the corner of his eye. She wasn't looking to him though. Somehow he found that disappointing. But the girl seemed far too transfixed in his palm. He wondered what she was thinking exactly. And it seemed he tried to figure it out by looming himself over her a bit more. All the Uchiha saw was his burned palm being dabbed by the paper towel. And what he smelled was Kanna's hair…which now Itachi swallowed, his neck muscles tensing, "…and you?"

"What about me?' Kanna inquired, not exactly taking notice that Itachi drew closer.

Hand opening and closing in Kanna's hand, Itachi didn't enjoy explaining himself. Especially on such a random subject he didn't expect from himself. But he couldn't help it, he was curious. "When were you born?"

Now she took notice. Kanna looked up and over her shoulder. To only see Itachi's face rather close to her own. Her reflex would have been to draw away, but the kitchen counter was now pressing painfully in her side. "Just before winter starts I'll turn eighteen." She forced s smile on, her dimples a bit stressed by this position.

The Uchiha then witnessed as Kanna realized she had been holding his hand the whole time. She slowly recoiled her fingers and apologized, before retreating to some cabinets. "…?" Itachi just watched her. Kanna looked like she was searching for some tea glasses, but she must have not seen the many cups right in front of her. Or else she was looking for some very specific ones.

They both took a seat at the kitchen counter. Kanna poured the tea, making sure to use a cloth while taking hold of the tea kettle's handle. Itachi had completely forgotten that he was hungry. He was far too lost in thought.

With her tea poured, it was a little too hot so she decided just to let it cool by itself instead of going all balloon faced and blowing on it. And she began to entertain herself by trying to unravel her bandages. But she paused, knowing she needed to say something. "Thank you…again," she had been able to force out.

Elbows on the kitchen counter, cup folded within his purple nail polished fingers, Itachi lightly puckered his lips and blew in attempt to cool his tea. He heard Kanna thank him. "For what now?" he questioned tonelessly, now staring off towards the cabinets.

"Well…for everything," it was obvious she wasn't accustomed to thanking others. Just the way Kanna stared off, looked uncertain. "I would have died if it wasn't for you. And I'm sure if it had been Kisame or Deidara sent for me, I probably wouldn't have got by the first day here."

Itachi was sure on two things. "Kisame rapes women far more often than he kills them," he noticed Kanna twitch, probably not expecting that response at all. But it was the honest truth. "As for Deidara, hmph…" The Uchiha snickered spitefully. "He'd keep you around for his own foolish amusement."

Kanna sipped her tea and listened. Though she miscalculated the amount of time her tea needed to cool, so the drink scolded Kanna by practically steaming her tongue. And now the way Itachi spoke of Kisame and Deidara, told he wasn't very fond of either. But he almost had this tone, as if superior to both of them. "And so you're above what the others fall victim to," she told simply.

Itachi closed his eyes calmly, "I am." Which she was quite lucky that Itachi didn't waste his time feeding a physical appetite with animal behavior. He then lowered his cup, a thin smirk surfacing as he decided to merely tease her. "You almost sound disappointed Kanna-san."

Her eyebrows furrowed, nose curling with a unflattering snarl ,"How disgusting," she snapped back. Kanna saw Itachi casually hide his smirk by taking another sip of tea. Yet once he lowered the cup, his smirk was completely gone and he went back to being expressionless. "Why do you…well not just you, but Deidara and even Kisame express such animosity to one another. I mean you're comrades…so why can't you all get along?"

Itachi peered to Kanna then, "Because, we're not comrades. We're just criminal who are working for the same ambition…Nothing more." Itachi never worried about Kisame. And he knew Kisame never worried about him. Of course when Kisame referred to Itachi's diminishing eyesight, it was almost as if he took joy in knowing the Uchiha would have a handicap in time. Thus, making him useless to Akatsuki. "Out on the battle field we indeed work together, but if the other became fatally wounded or even dies. Well…oh well." he shrugged.

"That's horrible," said Kanna, staring off.

Itachi sipped his tea, not really caring what Kanna thought about Akatsukis' barbaric ways. "Kanna-san," the Uchiha addressed her then, "Do not look forward to such care from me again. Within Akatsuki, you will only find selfishness…cruelty." A night draft blew in then. Itachi was not wearing his cloak, just the purple fishnet shirt. And his skin began to pucker with chilled bumps.

The young woman's expression fell. Why could she not look forward to such care from Itachi again? "So in other words, I won't ever see kindness from you after we leave this manor." If that ever happened of course. If Itachi hadn't given up and was just waiting for her to finish her tea only to tell her kneel down and let me axe your neck.

Silence between them inevitably fell. Kanna was continuing to interpret her dream even now. She was trying to set things straight. 'I know what I have to do. Even if its difficult. But I refuse to…fade.'

Itachi stared down to his empty cup. Soon his index finger leant out and began to idly run along the tea slicked rim. 'Kindness,' that's what Kanna referred to his pity on her as. She seemed in deep thought now, well from the angle Itachi was staring so intently. Her right arm was drawn down to her lap and Kanna's hand was rubbing rather deeply there. She seemed unable to properly move with those bandages constricting. So he inhaled and put his cup down gently. "Face me," Itachi demanded.

Kanna finished the last drop of her tea, slopping her tongue within her mouth, just trying to alleviate the irritation of her burn. Then hearing Itachi demand she face him, her expression read with curiosity and weariness. "Why?"

Itachi strictly brought himself off of the chair then. And he just kept a expressionless stare on Kanna as she looked over the brim of her cup towards him, "just do it." By now she should have known questioning him was rather useless.

"Okay," she said, not in the mood to argue.

With of course a lack of grace thanks to his too good of a bandaging job, the young woman shifted on her chair and brought herself to face Itachi. She thought he was going to lecture her or something, from the way he was standing so stiff. But instead he kneeled. "Wait, what are you doing?" she questioned with urgency.

"…," he gave no answer. Instead Itachi allowed his actions to speak for him. The Uchiha leant his hands out, to gently take hold of Kanna's ankle and bring her leg up a bit. From just looking he was unable to see the bandage tip, so his digits began to elegantly strum the bandage edges looking for a loose one. A slight tug here and a slight tug there, Itachi finally found what he was looking for at the base of Kanna's heel.

"Uh…" unable to word her discomfort, the girl realized now he was undoing the bandages for her.

He found the loose bandage, Itachi began to slowly wind his hand about her foot he had raised by his shoulder. And as he went, Itachi used his wrist like a reel.

"Really, you don't need to do this," Kanna stated, her voice a little higher than usual. "Its fine really, I'll do it later…" But Itachi just kept unwrapping her. Already her ankle and calf were exposed of her right leg. She felt self-conscious, not exactly wanting him to witness what lack of exercise and training left her legs like. "Itachi-san, really stop..!" she put her hand out, cupping the top of his hand as it rested on her bare knee.

There was a momentary pause. "…," His sensual stare then peered up slowly to Kanna through his dark locks. He noticed her cheeks had turned a bright pink, as if someone pushed her down and had been pinching her face.

Kanna felt the warmth of his hand on her knee, the texture of his flesh as her own palm rested atop his hand. She found it hard to swallow, for her throat had gone dry. "I…I can do it," she expressed again.

The Uchiha clutched her knee gently. He didn't understand why she felt so uncomfortable. It wasn't as if his intentions were wrong. "I just want to make sure you healed correctly, do not make such a deal out of this" Itachi stated calmly. His eyes would glance back to her hand resting on his. And like expected, she recoiled it quickly as if he had something she didn't want to catch. So as he continued, the more he realized how uncomfortable Kanna really was.

Her eyes watched his moving hands carefully. It was so embarrassing having a man tend to her like this. For once the bandages passed her knee, Itachi's had to hike her bloodstained yukata up a bit more. The girl kept fidgeting, as if she had a chill of some sort. And as Itachi watched her, he couldn't help but smirk. His open palm rubbed along the surface of her flesh. His hand curved about her ankle and progressed to his index and middle finger snaking up her calf, just before pushing behind her knee.

When those two digits pressed to the back of her knee, Kanna just about jumped from the sensation.

"…does that hurt?" he inquired, voice just as deep and calm as if it were everyday that he ran his hand up a girl's leg.

Kanna shook her head like a startled mute. Though the way his index and middle finger were shoving behind her knee, it was hurting.

She soon remembered her bandages ran up her thigh. So Kanna thought in conclusion, Itachi would stop for the sake of shame. But instead, the Uchiha shifted his kneeling position and he had flicked back his ponytail. With another firm grip on her knee, he eased it apart from the other.

He hadn't meant to make her feel uncomfortable, nor had he thought he'd go so far. But her creamy white skin, he in no way found distasteful or unsatisfying to look at. 'She's so pale,' he inwardly thought. It looked like a lack of sunlight, probably cause she hardly left her home back in Kusagakure. Or at least that's what he presumed.

The bandages about his wrist became thicker now with the more he unraveled. And the more he unraveled, the more flesh he was allowed to see. To someone else, her ankle and calf were just a demure sight of naked skin. But this had to be the closest he had been to a woman in a very long time.

His hand was still cupping her bare knee, her yukata hiked up and hanging between just enough so any more of her body detail besides her thighs, was left a mystery. Kanna's mouth went ajar, she felt the sensation of a gap between her legs. And Itachi's callused palm began to slide up the middle of her inner thighs, those long fingertips aiming for the last wrapping. But also stretching towards a building sensation.

Both had grown oddly quiet. Kanna had clenched her jaw so tight she was sure her mouth would be sore tomorrow. Or else her teeth were going to shatter from the pressure. But as his fingertips began to disappear beneath the hiked up cloth of her yukata, Kanna's body instantly tightened up. She had succumb to a intense pulse, as if someone put a cropped live wire to the back of her ear. "Okay -- that's enough…" she declared breathlessly. But Itachi appeared far too busy. Far too busy pondering what he wanted, what he could really do with right now. Warm, pink tongue protruding between his thin lips, it slicked his chapped flesh. But Kanna then had reached her hand down and took a firm grip of his wrist. "Stop now!"

Itachi's hand was pressed against the warm supple flesh of her inner thighs. It seemed both of them were becoming victim to a physical hunger. And now he realized it. So Itachi took back his hand. Kanna was unable to read his expression as the shadows of his bangs obscured such to her. Instead, she just watched as he left the kitchen and went out to the courtyard.

"Wait…I-" had she done something wrong?

A slight fear he was somehow angry with her for stopping him. Kanna was unsure. Maybe he really was just finishing off unwrapping her and had taken offense that she thought otherwise. Then if it was something else, it was her whole right to stop him if she felt uncomfortable.

Kanna rubbed her face then. She felt as if someone poured that entire tea kettle on her. For the skin of her face was burning and she could only imagine what mortifying shade of red she was now. For it was obvious to Kanna she was above average shy pink. "I think I'm going to be sick," she groaned, almost heaving over. Itachi had that effect on her. Yet he wasn't disgusting. On the contrary, she found him absolutely beautiful in physical appearance. Those eyes she could barely make contact with cause they were just so appealing. And to be honest when he looked at her…well she didn't feel worthy of his stare.

"How could he ever? I mean…look at me," a reality check. Kanna looked to her reflection in the cabinet doors glass. She was far from the Haru Kanna who woke up in Kusagakure to prep herself. Kanna's long black hair sustained its own injuries from the rock shinobi. It was knotted, fly aways more like break aways. Then almost immediately after pointing that flaw out, she thought of her face. It burned such a deep red, she thought she must have looked exhausted, like some farm animal who had just got herded into her pin. "And my yukata…" well it was stained with _her _own blood. Someone who staggered in covered with their own blood…that meant weakness. Itachi obviously didn't enjoy her being weak, that was for sure.

So the young woman sat there, drowning in her own self-pity. To her a kunoichi, what Itachi would want: had confidence not only in their skills, but their bodies. And god knew she wasn't comfortable in her own skin. Kanna's flesh itched and crawled with insecurities. How shameful. "And yet I don't want to be how I use to be," the complete definition of a kunoichi. She had confidence in her skills and her body …once upon a time. But look where all that confidence got her. Stuck in the mud.

Kanna stared aimlessly to the wall, her eyebrows bent with frustration. As if things couldn't get any worse for her. "But what of Itachi?" Things would have to be uncomfortable after this. And figuring him out enough, Kanna decided he'd probably ignore her. However that was going to solve anything for him. "And if he ignores me, I won't be able to get anything done…I'll be here forever," not really caring that she was talking to herself, Kanna shook her head, cause she couldn't be here forever. Akatsuki had a time limit on her and Kouji's life.

To her right across the kitchen near the breadbox, she saw Itachi's kunai and shuriken holsters resting. "What am I going to do?" A heavy sigh escaped her lips as she rested her head on the counter.

Thankfully it had stopped raining. Outside in the courtyard, Itachi was trying to cleanse his mind of any thoughts which he found unnecessary and troublesome to even ponder on. Like a statue his form stood tall, rigid, not moved by the cold of late autumn. He was no different than the brick walls which surrounded this manor like a prison camp.

Perhaps the blistering cold was unable to get passed Itachi's thick skin. It couldn't do much harm to an already frostbitten core. And yet the sight did appease him. Sharingan able to absorb detail to its finest line and crease, he looked to the shed which stood outside the manor in a corner of the courtyard. The shingle roof was iced over. Every flat tile which overlapped in row after row, seemed as if it had been covered in grated diamond.

His eyes then lowered along the shed's side. It at first appeared as if someone took a piece of charcoal and drew swirling designs all along the outside walls. But upon further inspection as the moon pushed its girth between the clouds, Itachi saw that those swirling drawings were actually dormant ivy. Autumn had stopped them from growing any further and winter had took away their green coloring. Merely leaving this dried, flaking design.

Falling into this tranquil state finally, Itachi's sharingan eased shut. Besides what just happened, which he could deny later, Itachi's mission was finally making progress. Kanna had told him she needed to get reacquainted with shinobi conduct, right after coming to the conclusion that it really was kill or be killed in this situation. After today things would go faster. And the faster things went, the faster he could rid himself of her.

"I wonder…what he could be doing at this moment?" Itachi muttered to himself. He looked up to the sky once again, as if the moon had an answer for him. But all he could think about was how awkward he felt. Not because of what just happened. He could overlook that. Instead he felt awkward about aiding another person. From giving chances that shouldn't have been given. To admitting advice that he probably couldn't even follow himself. And having patience he really never had. All of this was rather frustrating, but there was something that felt good after all was done. When she told him thank you. Itachi didn't think he deserved it at first, but now really he did think he deserved it. Cause such was rare of Uchiha Itachi.

The last time he could remember someone depending on him, was when he thought of his little brother. How he disobeyed Itachi, when he gave advice not to over exert himself. And the results of him disobeying came as a sprained ankle. But of course it was okay in the end. Cause even though at that time Itachi wasn't a saint, for his aloofness somehow made him wicked. At least his little brother cared to have him around, even after so many broken promises.

Depressions along his eyes catching the shade of the moon, Itachi looked off to the side, seeing Kanna looking out from the kitchen doors. Obviously she was looking for him.

"Where did he…?" Kanna really was looking for Itachi. But she wasn't sure on how bad she wanted to find him and face the Uchiha after such an awkward and embarrassing situation they just had minutes before. Though she had decided to ignore it completely. Believing that yes, he had taken offense to her believing it was anything more.

Itachi exhaled, that soft stare turned serious once again, as if sharingan were absorbing the cold of outside. He witnessed Kanna's head perk up a bit as she now found him standing by the shed. "Hey," the girl spoke, a bit more casually than usual.

"…," The Uchiha just stared down to her as she approached. Truthfully he was anxious to what she was about going to say. Really it would be nice of her to spare him the embarrassment and mortification. But suspected he didn't deserve that much kindness from Kanna.

Hands behind her back, Kanna forced herself to look him straight in the eye. "Are you tired?" she simply inquired.

Itachi raised a suspicious eyebrow, "…no."

Kanna saw his suspicion, so she then drew her arms out in front of her. Held in Kanna's open hands were Itachi's kunai and shuriken holsters. "Good. Then we'll continue where we left off."

Itachi remembered nothing about him and her doing absolutely anything with weapons, "_you_ left off on chakra control."

Of course it didn't take him long to get an attitude with her, and it was vice versa. "I'm fully aware of that," said Kanna, her tone somewhat harsher now that he teeth were grit. "But I believe I can work on that well enough by myself. So here…" she removed a kunai from his holster, then gestured for him to take it.

The Uchiha stared to his own blade and his arms were still and hanging by his sides. "…."

Kanna sighed heavily, he wasn't taking the blade. But she wasn't going to make a big deal out of this. So instead of just gesturing, she pushed the blade to his chest. "Here, take it." Of course the blade was pointed down and the side of its handle in her fist was pressing onto him. Not like she wanted another broomstick incident.

As the girl pushed his own blade on him, Itachi took the kunai in hand. "I don't need to practice my aim," said Itachi, letting his hand with a grip on the kunai fall to his side.

Pouch opened, she took another one of his kunai for herself. "Better than you sitting there watching me in boredom," Kanna spoke in a sarcastic tone. It seemed as if she had forgotten what happened in the kitchen. But what was more surprising to Itachi, was she was very serious about this. She wasn't withering away at the sight of a shinobi weapon any longer. "Unless you enjoy criticizing me from the sidelines?" the young woman's eyes narrowed, "which I'm _very _sure you do."

Itachi scoffed, "perhaps I do. Seems to work."

On hearing his smart reply, she glanced over her shoulder at him irritably. "Just because you punish yourself, doesn't mean you need to take it out on me." The last thing the Haru needed was to hear Itachi criticizing her lack in ability as a shinobi.

"…," silence from Itachi. But inside his mind he could hear a distinct ringing. For there was that damn word again. _Punishment_.

Sure he had more patience with Kanna than any other person he knew at this time. But it was so very easy for her to get on his nerves. She just knew where to pick at him. Itachi could say he made himself appear to be a very calm man. Not once did he lose his temper in battle. But this girl -- she had a big mouth.

"Punishment…?"he repeated, eyes narrowing oh so slightly. Her saying that just upset him. Standing there still as stone, witnessing Kanna's technique in holding her projectile weaponry wrong, the Uchiha took a single step forward. "Blunt of word, such will get you in trouble Kanna-san..." he told in a low, warning like voice.

She peered momentarily over her shoulder to Itachi, and decided to not pay attention to his warning. Instead she just exhaled heavily, as if exhausted with him. "Just never mind," she told, "forget what I said." Kanna was trying to focus on what was at hand. And that was this kunai trying to get into that shed wall. Really the Haru only expected to hit the wall and the kunai to fall to the stone ground.

Arm wound up she went to release the kunai from her fingertips. But the kunai was unable to escape her fist cause Itachi had came up behind her and clasped Kanna's wrist. "Wh-what are you doing now?" she exclaimed fearfully. Itachi had put that grip on her once again, holding her one arm up and making struggle rather pointless. Kanna's long bangs flopped in front of her face messily and she glared from behind them. "I wish you would stop handling me like this!" she shouted.

With very little effort from him, Itachi held Kanna's wrist so high up, any higher she'd be on her toes. "You say a lot I do not understand…" said Itachi, this sharp curiosity in his voice.

"Like what?" Kanna questioned irritably. The girl dangled from his grip like a moody child.

Itachi said nothing for a good while. Instead the Uchiha just stared to Kanna's pouting expression. While his own was nothing but a blank canvas, except for the few splashes of displeasure towards her.

"What you just said, moments ago…punishment." Itachi cocked his head to the side like a curious animal- "what did you mean?"

All this for an answer? Kanna cringed, for there was a discomfort in her arm as the blood was running out of it. "It makes better sense in my head…" fearless expression blinking on and off, Kanna strictly looked away. A truly difficult task it was, trying to be brave before him.

The Uchiha scowled when she once again looked away from him. He hated how she did that. Not just because it was rude, but because it meant she actually feared him… Itachi used his free hand to pinch her jaw in order to direct her wandering eyes to his own. At first Kanna shook her head, but finally made eye contact. "Then put it in words I'll understand," he told in that menacing tone.

She wasn't sure if she could put it in words Itachi could understand. Cause Kanna could barely understand it herself. Even if she did put it in words, he'd probably ridicule her. And yet…"When I look at you," the Haru weakly started, "all I see is…" she stopped short. How come her mouth got her into so much trouble?

After she faulted Itachi shook her chin a little, as if trying to rattle and shake the words out. Lips being pinched into more of a pout by him, Kanna forced herself to speak, "sadness… That's all I see when I look at you." The Haru's eyes wandered to the side, a bit timid to see his expression.

"…," a moment of pause before Itachi released Kanna's face. Really he hadn't been expecting that. Itachi hadn't known what to expect but it wasn't anything that accurate.

She rubbed her wrist. At first there had been a deep purple mark etching the shape of his fingers, but it faded away as if it was never there. Kanna had stumbled back a bit, her eyes averted to the ground cause now she had the floor in order to back up her words. "When I say this I don't mean to insult you. All I'm saying is…it appears as if you're really regretting something," Kanna regained her posture, her voice had a pleading tone in it. Pleading for him not to be angry but to understand her reasoning. "Believe me I don't wish to offend you! Its just…regret," she crossed her arms over her chest then, fingers kneading into her arms timidly. "I've felt so much of it before, that after a while I believed it as my own punishment for all the things I didn't and did do."

Regret was not a physical punishment, but an emotional. To Haru Kanna all the cruel things she did to her family, all the good times she didn't allow herself to have with them…it all piled up as her regret once the rock shinobi wiped her clan out. Now that she knew Itachi, she saw more regret inside his eyes.

He was still standing close to her and still staring straight at her. But Kanna couldn't bring it in herself to look up at him any longer. "I know why you plague yourself…" she whispered.

That's when Itachi straightened his back. That calm stare he had shifted to that narrowed glare. "So," he spat in that challenging tone, "when you said you had me all figured out, you really meant it?"

"I'm not saying that!" she tried to make herself sound less sure, but really she was sure.

"Stupid," the Uchiha said, his lip curling almost in disgust. "So tell me Kanna-san, what else do you think you have figured out about me?" that challenge in his tone yet again.

There was some silence. "…nothing," she muttered. It would be stupid to continue her ranting. Kanna knew this.

His calm demeanor was faltering. Then he drew closer and took hold of her chin yet again. It was the only way he could get her to look at him. "No, you think I'm some melancholic, suffering creature…I can see it in your eyes." Head cocked to the side, sharingan like a cold tool of intimidation stared on.

Continuing to shake Kanna by her chin for answers, the girl figured out he was cross because she thought he was capable of feeling. The Haru was astonished by that. Because to her it was absolutely stupid! Kanna then slapped his hand away. "So are you a sociopath?" she inquired bitterly, while puffing her chest out. "Do you lack any emotion when you kill somebody? Are you really incapable of feeling?"

A slight sting his hand felt when she slapped it away from her chin. But that sting wasn't nearly as painful as her questions she spat out as if drilling him. "…no," Itachi's expression which had been hard with a scowl, softened when he thought of all truth and honesty within himself. In Akatsuki it did not hurt to kill those who deserved it. Really he never killed unless necessary. Itachi was not blood thirsty. For he long before indulged far too much and he was still full from it.

Kanna began to try and softly push Itachi away. She looked like a cat kneading cloth, cause her delicate pushing wasn't budging him, "just go away…I'll do this myself."

"…," His own chin pressing into his chest, Itachi looked down to Kanna's small hands trying to push him away again and again. She kept pleading for him just to go away. But you know, Itachi decided he didn't feel like going away just yet.

"Why can't you look at me?" Itachi questioned coldly, his sights still narrowed but his scowl softened. "If you believe me to be someone capable of emotions…why are you afraid?"

"Err!" Kanna hammered her fist onto his chest. Though his body appeared to absorb the blow. "I'm not afraid of you!" she huffed.

Itachi could have laughed. Everyone was afraid of him! Including Kanna. Her and her weak attempt at being brave. "Lies," he hissed. Itachi's broad shoulders tucked in a bit as he leaned down to stare directly at her. There was a lot about Kanna he disliked, but a lot that he admired. As he looked her over, she began to try and hide herself. Just by crossing her arms protectively over her chest, backing more up into the shed, shadows almost swallowing her.

He drew himself back then, head lolling to the side in thought. "If you're not afraid of me," Itachi leant out his right hand to the girl. She gave a sharp intake of breath and pulled back. No surprise. But instead of slapping her or pinching her face, Itachi ran his hand down the side of her cheek. "If you're not afraid of me…then comfort me," he spoke softly.

Kanna stopped short of curling up against the shed. Her eyes opened wide with bewilderment at the soft sensation of the back of his hand gently gliding down the side of her cheek. Did he say, what she thought he said? "Wh-what?" Kanna inquired, her expression bent by confusion.

With a serious tone, almost as if demanding, Itachi repeated himself. "Comfort me," back hand turning to have his palm cup her cheek, Itachi wondered if he was doing this correctly. If he really was able to be soft with handling anything.

At the corner of her eye she caught the movement of his thumb, it was strumming at her plump bottom lip. "I don't understand…" she said, not believing the situation at hand.

Itachi had came to terms with what he wanted now. What could make this stay at the manor better and more pleasant for him. So he stepped forward, causing Kanna to back up into the shed wall. That's when he took the opportunity to press himself against her. Thumb still strumming her bottom lip, "…is it not what girls do?" he questioned curiously, watching her react to his touch. He could see her skin shudder, from her neck down to what of her chest he was allowed to see. For his roughhousing had put her yukata top askew. "Perhaps in a story then…the lead female character consoles the misunderstood villain. In hopes of changing him."

Her back was chilled from the cold damp wall of the shed. Yet the front of her body was warm, face heating up so much she felt as if it were a beacon. The moment in the kitchen had made her feel uncomfortable enough. But now this? Kanna felt afraid in someway. But she would be a complete liar to deny this was something she didn't want. That she never stared at Itachi just for the sake of admiring his features, or ever thought of him when he wasn't around. She was immune to a lot, but not him.

"Do you not wish to comfort me?" Itachi continued on, having his hand tilt her head back. Out in the late autumn cold, their breath was materializing. Soft puffs of it clouding the other's face. Itachi could feel how warm her face was, he could see her cheeks aglow in the midst of this darkness. To him, her innocence was enthralling.

Palms flat against the shed, Kanna didn't know what to do. To pull away because she didn't trust him, or succumb to the amazing sensation of Itachi's body fully pressed up against her suggesting immoral acts. He still caressed the side of her face.

"Did you drink sake before we got out here?" Kanna questioned, breathlessly. Even the sound of her heightened voice from this moment, startled her somehow.

"…?" Itachi simply shook his head, slightly amused. He hadn't had sake all day. But how funny she thought the only way he'd pay such attention to her, was if he was or had been drinking.

Kanna stared into sharingan. She watched the detail of Itachi's features so carefully. How his expression could show so little but those eyes could show so much. And yet as her own hand slid up his chest, Kanna's digits trembled as she spoke- "Then are you hypnotizing me…mesmerizing me with your sharingan?"

A smirk spread across his lips then, "if I was Kanna-san, you wouldn't be standing…"

Kanna had suppressed her amusement then. Something about his reply was just funny, cause he was right. But on a darker note, if Itachi were like Kisame or even Deidara, Kanna wouldn't have to be physically forced into submission. His face slowly drew closer to her own then. Itachi's eyes flickered along Kanna's soft features until his attention focused on her mouth. Hand eased on the side of Kanna's face, Itachi began to bring her mouth to his own. So he could enjoy something he for so long deprived himself of.

Kanna's eyes widened still, form rigid as ever. "Wait…" she spoke in soft urgency, as her fists were balled up and gently placed on his chest. Kanna kept gazing into the scarlet of his ominous sharingan as the Uchiha took no heed to her voice. Itachi's hot breath warmed her mouth for him, and before she knew it Kanna felt the warm flesh of his lips brush so lightly along her own. So subtle was the touch, it was if he were taking a small taste…she wondered if it had even been a kiss or not.

The Uchiha had stopped himself from fully kissing her. For he had his own doubts, wondering if this was really what he wanted and if he was capable of dealing with this decision. Opening sharingan, he drew back because Kanna had not returned the kiss. Nor did it look like she was at all interested in this. To Itachi it was just as much a discouragement as it was an insult. "…I see," he then said, tone finding that menacing way. Kanna was still up against the wall looking perplexed. Her expression bothered the Uchiha for it made him feel rejected. "Forget what has just happened. It was a mistake," regaining his posture and recoiling his hand from her face, Itachi made to turn around. Inwardly, he berated himself for being such a fool.

She could hear her heart's irregular beat, pounding against her chest and rushing blood so fast Kanna could hear the roar in her ears. As soon as she felt the warmth of his body move away, Kanna felt a frustration. Almost this sense of anger because she had permitted him to even move a foot away from her. Without any dictation from herself, as if Kanna's body moved on its own, the Haru reached out her right hand and grabbed his wrist.

"Wait, don't go!" she protested. Itachi looked over his shoulder cruelly, no real time to show any shock as the girl whirled him around to face her. Though he was taller, her hand took hold of his shoulder roughly and lowered him down to her own height. Itachi felt the amazing sensation of Kanna's mouth fully crushed against his own.

Breathing through her nose deeply, Kanna had tightly closed her eyes and savored the sensation of this high from just kissing him. Lips rubbing along his own, she caressed the side of his face and could feel his bangs tickling along her cheeks. Itachi's sharingan had been wide and staring lifelessly to Kanna as she seemed very determined to kiss him correctly. He kind of wondered if she ever did such. If she had ever been with any man.

Itachi pulled his mouth back then, taking in a deep breath as if he had just relieved a momentous thirst. But he soon returned her kiss, cupping her face before running his slender fingers through her long black hair. Itachi had caught Kanna's bottom lip between his teeth, softly pulling it back he then let it plop back in place. Both of them staggered back until Kanna's back hit the shed wall hard. The kiss deepening after they both inhaled the chilling air, Itachi eased those feminine framed sharingan eyes shut. The sensuous feeling of this moment then began to flood his body with excitement. Oh how it's been so long since he felt such a feeling.

He pried her mouth open with his lips so his slicked tongue could intrude her mouth's depth. Itachi tasted a sweet flavor just before Kanna pushed him back with her balled up fists. "Wait…I can't, this is wrong!" Her eyebrows furrowed upward. Kanna was beginning to remember why she was here in the first place. None of it had to do with this, she had no time to be messing around with Itachi.

The Uchiha merely stared to her, his expression blank. One of his hands then slid down her side, resting itself on her hip. Those digits of his began to knead her flesh and he watched how she reacted. It pleased him to see her hardened expression weaken at his touch. "How is it wrong if I'm telling you to comfort me and you're merely following my orders?" another smirk creased its away across his fine features. Hand still grabbing at her hip, Itachi eased his mouth to the crook of Kanna's neck and shoulder. Tongue protruding between his thin lips, it ran a warm course up and about her soft jaw line, leaving a slick mark of saliva.

A whimper escaped her, face turning a even more radiating color. "Stop, you…you know what I mean Itachi-san."

Kanna could hear the soft smacking as Itachi brought up her skin between his teeth, then proceeded to suck on it till blood was brought to the surface. It felt so good to Kanna, so much that her eyes rolled back to look towards the sky and closed. Her fingers even began to twist and knot up in the material of his fishnet shirt. And yet something nagged at the back of her mind, saying how wrong this was. That she had no right to be enjoying this. That as her brother suffered off somewhere, here she was enjoying attention from someone like Itachi.

Yet those thoughts must have not been loud enough to alert Itachi. For now he withdrew his mouth from her neck and what was left in his hungry mouth's wake, were three various sized red marks. Almost affectionately Itachi's moist tongue lagged out and ran itself along those bruises, before he looked Kanna square in the eye again. "If its so wrong Kanna-san, why don't you stop me?"

Yes, why couldn't she? The Haru couldn't quite understand why. "Because…I," they were both at a loss for words, as their mouths drew close to each other's again and there was some silence. Lips just lightly playing along the others, as if teasing. "Because I want you to comfort me also," she whispered.

The Uchiha found her answer intriguing as he breathed by her ear. The tip of his tongue played along the cartilage, dabbed and slicked the inside of her ear before he replied, "…and I'll do that."

Kanna's head lolled to the side, her mouth once again finding his own. She chewed on his bottom lip slowly while feeling his hips press against her own. The slow grind of his pelvis on hers, gave Kanna that live wire effect. A small moan had escaped her just then, she almost felt shameful letting him hear it. But Itachi didn't mind, he wanted to hear her. So one of his hands found the hem of her yukata. Those digits which had almost been frozen to numbness by the cold, not felt so much as they snaked up her inner thighs.

"W-wait," she said in soft urgency. But his mouth muffled her voice.

A sweltering heat he felt within himself, as his hand forced its way up her inner thighs. Itachi was quite sure of what he wanted. Though it seemed Kanna was still uncertain herself. Index and middle finger sliding up and along the crease of her folds, he felt the cloth texture of her underwear dampening.

Kanna's hands slid up his arms and rested on his shoulders. She soon cupped his face and ran her fingers through his long bangs. Sharingan were strict with a determination as his fingers continued to rub that cloth along her tender flesh, giving her a rather raw feel. Beginning to accept this sensation, that she was needed…actually wanted, Kanna had pressed her bare forehead to his struck through hitai-ate. "We'll comfort each other then," a soft smile eased across her lips, though it shuddered as his fingers dug deeper.

Itachi was about going to nod his head, reassuring her of what she just said. When a total mood breaker took place. The dark clouds which blanketed the indigo sky, were then torn through as a clay bird descended. Itachi and Kanna looked upward, to see Deidara and two others aboard his masterpiece.

"Its Deidara-san," muttered Kanna.

"Obviously," Itachi glowered.

* * *

a/n: ...okay over the winter break I worked my bootie off for this chapter! Lol But it was difficult for me to get in that zone for me to write it. Also, the very end of this fic, I'm not too proud of. I couldn't exactly get the right vision or word it right, really I thought I could have did better but I was in a bit of a hurry to finish this chapter off. Cause after this, the story kicks into gear with things moving way faster. And for those who ask me, yes Kanna's brother does show up again in chapter 14. O-o Kouji-kun has fans? Lol So anyway enjoy, or not. Give me your opinions --review! I love to read reviews and with all truth and honesty, if I ever feel like I can't work a chapter properly, I go back and read the reviews. They totally fuel me.

-connie

xoxox


	14. curious

**!WARNING! **Okay out of respect to those readers who don't like mature content like a nosebleed, _I will_ be putting warnings before a chapter with sexual content. And really this is my first fanfic, so if it seems I'm close to a ban, a heads up by my awesome reviewers would be adored! rofl And yeah I tried my hand at re-writing that minor nosebleed. :D

* * *

_"I am human and I need to be loved. Just like everybody else does..."_

That slow, sweltering heat which had been slowly pumping, had began to quicken its pace as his fingers knew how to move and coax his member forward. Their rub was deep, gradual, and moving it seemed as the grass kunoichi's digits tightened up on his shoulders and she sucked in the misty air so hungrily between them, to then release a deep throated moan. Itachi's chin was lightly resting on her shoulder, one hand working her area so roughly through wet cotton she was sure to feel pink rawness thanks to the fibers. "Kanna-san…" he whispered softly by her ear, as his groin tightened uncomfortably.

The Uchiha's left arm had her walled in on one side. Yet as soon as she let him hear that sweet moan, a famished impulse had his hand slip from the shed's melting wall, to her backside where he took firm grip. A perk there was to having a girl in his arms who hadn't exerted herself with shinobi exercise. There was more for his hand to take, knead greedily, and slam back into the wall repeatedly when he saw fit.

As Itachi was attempting to finger her by gently sliding his index fingertip over her moistening crease and shoving his middle digit upward, Kanna just about chocked on the wad of saliva gathering in her throat. It looked like he was the only one doing anything. Because Kanna…well she didn't know what to do in this situation. She was far too afraid to do something wrong; have him look up at her when she tried to return this uncomfortable yet pleasurable feeling, and then have him realize she hadn't experienced any sexual attention like this in almost eighteen years of living.

Her eyes half-lidded as if in a state of bliss ready to bring her to her knees, "Itachi-san, no I can't -- Uh!" Kanna's eyes rolled back milky white, from feeling the most strange sensation. Itachi had finally grown impatient and decided to hook a digit around the patch of wet cloth which stood in his way, bunch it aside, and take full opportunity to sink his cold middle finger inside of her hot body to the knuckle. It writhed within.

In reaction to the pleasurable shock, Kanna's back arched inward. "Mhmm…" Her groan was strained. But she wanted more. Whatever Uchiha Itachi could offer her right now, she would indulge on with gluttonous intent. Did she really desire him? Very amused Itachi was on how his sensuous attention could drive the girl who was the personification of his latest akatsuki mission, into such arousal. He knew she had meant to say for him to slow down,

"What is it Kanna-san?" Head drawing back from her shoulder, Itachi's pink saliva slicked tongue ran across his lips, moistening the chapped flesh from all his sudden deep breathing. Kanna's face was so pretty in pink with this timid, uncertain expression. So pretty it caused him to smirk sadistically, "tell me what you want," he demanded.

Kanna found it almost shocking on how straightforward he was with this. So serious, yet the way he was as a person had some sensuous elegance. How he stared with exotic eyes, how he possessed a personality void of all compassion. During her thoughts Itachi's stare was ceaseless and intense, waiting for her corruptible reply. Tension in her neck building, Kanna swallowed hard as his pelvis rubbed against her own, "I can't…" she started, but faltered as he submerged a second finger into her tender flesh. Kanna squinted tightly. Realizing that was the wrong answer.

"What?" Itachi persisted in that deep tone. He had Kanna's decision at the mercy of his fingertips.

No use it fighting it. She couldn't. Let her fumble with him if she must, as long as it was done. Kanna's arms struck out and she wrapped them about Itachi's neck. Hauling the Uchiha down more to her size, the Haru's mouth again crushed to his own. Their lips rubbed together, what saliva dribbled from their tongues, smoothed it all. Itachi seemed pleased with what he was inducing her to. A soft grunt escaped him as he opened his mouth to breathe, also allowing Kanna to shove her tongue passed his lips.

That saliva slicked muscle explored the inmost of Itachi's mouth. Doused in him, what she thought to be bitter like venom, on the contrary Itachi's taste was very sweet. 'And he wants me…he actually wants me,' she had never felt such. How could that be wrong to succumb to? Being what is wanted.

"Hmmm," Itachi hummed deeply, tip of his tongue flicking her own almost in a tease. One hand already up her yukata, the other which had been kneading her backside hungrily, now shoved its way under the cloth too. "Put your legs around my waist," Itachi suddenly demanded, in this breathless urgency. His bangs fell messily in front of his face, black webs of strands just veiled over his new rose colored cheeks. Itachi could not explain what his exact emotion was right now. Perhaps after depriving himself so long of affection, making love to a woman…well he had grown needy with desire. Now with a perfect opportune moment to feed himself, Itachi forgot about his complicated woes.

The seventeen year old girl's hands slid down his chest slowly. Through the thin fishnet of his akatsuki uniform, she felt the nubs of his erect nipples. Either drawn up by the cold, or this intense moment.

"Yes, all…all right," she stuttered, finally acknowledging that she had heard his command, and went right along to obey. Kanna had brought her right knee up to rest at his waist, while her mind felt as if it were full of water. Then suddenly her feet weren't touching the ground. How startling "Wait, what are you-?" The Uchiha had yanked her hips to his own, legs pulled forward so she had his waist straddled.

---

Like the form of a real hollow boned bird, Deidara's clay incarnation descent. Thick wings cutting through the clouds like black cotton candy, a trail down the sky was made. Both Itachi and Kanna stared upward, their faces depicting mixed emotion.

She was still up against the shed wall with Itachi holding the lower part of her body off the ground by the backs of her knees effortlessly. Clothing all askew, she hurriedly pulled her limbs back from the Uchiha. "Oh my god…oh my god," Kanna repeatedly muttered to herself. Not like Deidara just walked in on them. Yet still, she felt her face redden, if possible, a more radiating shade. Was there no sand to stick her head in?

Itachi had immediately felt that sweltering, animalistic mood suddenly fizzle into a pile of ash. 'Since when does Deidara stay punctual on my orders?' the Uchiha thought resentfully. Akatsuki members seemed to keep to a rather strict theme. Amongst one another they showed discipline, were calm, rarely bragged of their feats. Of course if one was issued an order by another with Rei's word shadowing right behind it, Akatsuki like Deidara listened. But really when Itachi gave Deidara an exact time to return, rarely did the blonde go out of his way to arrive precisely on time. But here he was on the dot of the hour. How vexing.

Itachi's sharingan had narrowed, those lips of his which were now a bright, tender, and puffy pink from working so roughly against Kanna's mouth, now pressed together tightly. He would not lament for the crushed moment. No, he would scowl towards the bird's form as it disappeared behind the rooftops of the manor, making its landing pad the fenced in front yard.

"You never told me," said Kanna, in a voice that was rather cracked as she had yet to recover from the moment, "why Deidara-san and Kisame-san departed in the first place."

"…," deciding not to answer her, Itachi had noticed something very suspicious about the clay bird's passengers. So with his gained composure, the Uchiha made to walk away.

Kanna's eyes widened with astonishment. After all that and he was about to walk away? "Wait, Itachi!" she had made to step forward, but the slippery cobblestone of the courtyard got the best of her. Sandal losing grip, her hand went back and touched the shed so she would not fall.

Itachi then paused, back facing Kanna he tossed that indifferent stare over his shoulder. "Kanna-san," he spoke strictly. Something crept up on Kanna then. The way he said her name, his tone unchanging. She suspected something very unkind was about to be told to her.

"…," a silence at first, sharingan shot that blistering scrutiny to the baffled young woman. What he was about to say, were words he had been planning from the very beginning, when he had made that curious decision to take her in such a ill-disciplined way. "…do not mention this to anyone. I mean it."

Instant silence had dropped between Kanna and Itachi so they could just look at one another. Itachi, of course holding that expressionless mask. And Kanna, looking rather offended that he had uttered such insensitive words. "But-" Before she could continue, the first gust of incoming winter, swooped down sending her hair across her face messily. Like strips of black threads, Kanna's hands hurriedly came up to comb her hair back so it wouldn't knot. By the time her vision was clear though, Itachi was already walking the manor deck and slipped through the kitchen doors. Leaving her.

"…," she couldn't believe what just happened. No words to utter, too mixed up to think clearly; Kanna's hand leant down to pull her yukata collar up before she completely spilled out. Though outside the weather was so chilled by the oncoming winter, Kanna found her body was unable to feel the chill. For this bubbling anger in her stomach was threatening to burn a hole. The steam from it filled her lungs, caused her cheeks to turn a scarlet red, and those brown almond shaped eyes narrowed and warped to a most horrid glare.

---

Whether or not Itachi had meant to be a cold, heartless, typical man back there with Kanna or not, the Uchiha did not know. Really he thought Kanna wouldn't want Deidara to wander through the manor in search of them, to then walk out into the courtyard and see Itachi and her fucking against the shed. It was indecent. Though Itachi could admit to himself if Deidara had not shown up, he would have in fact taken her against the shed, shameless, no questions asked. He had been planning to up until the clay master's reappearance. Besides, what did Kanna expect? It wasn't like he planned on developing anything with her. What a utter waste of time and effort such would be.

With a brisk walk, perhaps to reach Deidara quicker in order to make him pay for the interruption, Itachi cleared the kitchen, living room, and was now in the dull photo lined hall directly linked to the front doors. He was very curious about his new company. Why had Kisame not came back with Deidara, and why the other two?

A loud crack of locks being undone, caught Itachi's attention. Sharingan snapped straightforward, he paused before a laid out dusty carpet just as the front doors began to spread. But only just barely…thin enough for a small frame to slip in quietly.

A young boy stepped into the manor. He possessed a rather androgynous appearance. For he had a soft, very pale feminine like heart-shaped face. At first his eyes were not visible through all that shaggy black hair which hung in front of his face and tickled his shoulders almost morbid pixie style. But as he began to peer around the entrance hall slowly, his right hand elegantly came up to sweep his bangs aside to reveal youthful brown eyes shaped like almonds.

Haru Kouji had not noticed anyone standing in the hall with him at the moment. He was far too interested in this new location. Quite different it was from where he was last being held captive. For one, he could see the moon light glimmering in through age sullen windows, beams of light only coming in for the recent rain had left clean speckles all along the glass. The Akatsuki hideout had no natural light at all! In fact with no windows, everyone got around with electricity, all night and day. His entire stay had Kouji relying on the sense of sleep to tell him when nighttime was.

Two, this manor had the smell of age. Very strong it was, so much he wrinkled his nose at the odor with a good deal of dislike. To Haru Kouji, who had been use to the finer things in life. Earth Country was just a hole in the wall compared to the beauty of Kusagakure. And as his mute form peered down dreary halls of complete emptiness, he began to ponder why on earth he was even brought here. He had just been sitting with his Watcher in one of the many padded training rooms, when that blonde snatched him up by his wrist and took him into actual sunlight.

_Creak. _Kouji's ears perked to the distinct sound of water swollen floor planks being walked over. "…?" Brown eyes wide, staring into the depths of the hall, there was that feeling like someone behind was watching him. Really it wasn't just a feeling. Kouji's head slowly rotated; brown sight peering timidly over his own shoulder. And at that moment of slight hesitation to know or not know what was creeping behind him, the young Haru witnessed a very familiar pair of eyes staring through the darkness straight at him.

"What a unexpected surprise… Kouji-kun," said Itachi in his usual vacant tone.

"…!" Kouji's face expressed surprise…or was it fear? Eyes round as rice crackers, they had lost that elegant almond shape at the startling reappearance of the man who started out Kouji's entire ordeal.

Indeed it had been a while since Kouji last saw Itachi. An entire season really. But the man's sheer presence was still as frightening, intimidating as ever. Kouji remembered even wondering to himself, if Itachi was even human. That stare was far too demonic to be of this world.

…A heavy wind pushed itself against the manor then. Within this silence, still stance as if Itachi's shadow had him possessed, Kouji could almost feel the manor lean against the wind.

"I see," Itachi then said, lips forming into a slight frown at the boy's gawking look, "you still choose to be a mute." How curious it was to Itachi, that both Haru took a real fancy to lies.

Kouji's body then turned to face Itachi. It looked at first like the Uchiha was waiting for a reply, but instead his head lolled to the side of his left shoulder slowly. From down the hall which seemed to lead into nothing, brisk clacking could be heard. 'So… she's finally realized,' thought Itachi. Clacking becoming louder, the source of that rapid sound then came to a halt in the hallway frame.

Itachi closed his eyes once feeling Kanna's presence lingering in the doorway. For some reason Itachi could not bear witness to this reunion. Instead, he just turned his head another way, eyes lidded over with a tranquil look, hearing Kanna's astonished tone of voice stammer her little brother's name.

"K-Kou-Kouji…?"

Kanna did not know how long she was just standing there, nor did she count how many times her bottom lip trembled as if it were about to fall to the floor. Hands resting at her sides, Kanna's fingers began to twitch with spurts of her emotion. Whether to run forward, take hold of him and shake this illusion transparent, expose the lie. Or…

Her right foot dropped heavily forward. Kanna then made her way to Kouji. He had changed so much in the time between home and here. Kouji's hair was longer, not as well kept. The boy had grown thinner, far more pale; new clothes holding that lean frame of his, was he thin with malnutrition or lean with puberty? And when she finally couldn't take anymore of questioning herself, Kanna was right before Kouji and she bound her arms about his shoulders tightly. "Ototo!" she shouted, muffling the sudden outburst by tucking her mouth between the crook of his neck and shoulder.

"…," Kouji's form went rigid. He had no knowledge at all that his older sister would be stationed here for the training Rei spoke of. None whatsoever. He had also not known the reason why she was still alive and able to toss her arms around him like he was her long lost puppy. His ears picked up her strong sobbing, the feel of dampness rolling down her cheeks to soak into his shirt. She was going to ruin it with her over exaggerated eye droppings…

Itachi's eyes drawn shut, he could only make pictures within his mind of Kanna's emotional state seeing her little brother again. The same boy she was struggling in this manor for. 'And yet…' Lashes fluttering upward to let that glint of red be shown, Itachi looked to Kanna's sloped back, then trailed up to see something very surprising.

Kouji's expression was able to sustain a look of unfeeling as Kanna embraced him with utmost affection. Affection Itachi almost had forgotten completely about, but knew the young Haru's next action in no way made sense. 'This boy…' Itachi got the detail of Kouji's nose crinkling with a sneer, just before he shoved Kanna away from his form, as if she were someone he had never met before.

"What are you-?" She caught her footing just in time, saving her from a humiliating fall backwards.

Itachi said nothing, not about to get in the middle of whatever was really between the Haru siblings. Instead he just raised an incredulous eyebrow, even more so as he witnessed Kanna brush off Kouji's bad manners, by looking away- 'as if she expects no less…' but his disrespect. Odd.

For whatever reason Kanna did not come right out and scold Kouji for his insolence…well that was her own business. And right now she did not bother with it. Instead Kanna just stared down to Kouji. Just glad to see he was alive, unharmed. 'Like Itachi-san promised…' she thought.

Tension in the room began to build up, the Haru siblings just staring to one another, Itachi witnessing their weird behavior. But with the roll of events moving so quickly, one after another. The front doors were suddenly shoved open all the way.

"Why must you be such a wretched idiot? What the fuck did I do to Rei-sama, in order to deserve such hmm?" At long last, the clay master Deidara had finally returned to the manor hidden within the depths of his home country.

Truly he had made sure to arrive precisely on time. Since he was refrained from arriving any earlier. Rei had taken full advantage of the fact Itachi had sent him and Kisame back, that was for sure. And while he now hoped for a little break in the manor monitoring the pending Akatsuki member. Sadly, a little black cloud had been assigned to him.

"Deidara-senpai, I look forward to my first official Akatsuki mission. Why can you not be happy for me?" questioned Tobi, a little smidge of hurt in his tone.

Standing in the door frame, Deidara had his hands placed on his hips, staring off to the side with this rather bitter look. "Because, you're an arrogant fool who lacks intelligence in true art, and you're my new partner, that's why hmm!"

Yes, in fact Deidara had been assigned a new partner in Akatsuki. And he was no other than the enthusiastic underling of Zetsu. Tobi's right hand came up then to adjust the orange spiral patterned mask on his face. He didn't understand why Deidara despised him so. "Pardon me Deidara-senpai, but you've never insulted my intelligence so many times in one day. Are you just angry because you weren't assigned the partner you wanted?"

Even in the midst of the manor's darkness, one could see Tobi's doom bubbling up within Deidara. "Shut up! Before I set you a cause of death, hmm."

Tobi's shoulders slumped, "not another cause of death, Deidara-senpai."

The blonde almost made it a habit to assign Tobi various death sentences. Usually his favorite was _death by explosion._ But recently, he was getting a little more colorful. "Tsch," spat Deidara with a sneer, "remember Tobi. I only let things go three times. You got one more, so don't push it hmm."

Well feeling a bit down because Deidara just couldn't be happy with any kind of company on his missions, Tobi turned around noticing the eerie silence. He saw Itachi staring to him and the clay master with a ominous glare -- Tobi just about drew back with surprise. "Oh, hello Itachi-san. Been a while hasn't it?" Tobi out of all the akatsuki, seemed to be the most carefree and goofy. Maybe a little stupid also cause he was trying to strike up a conversation with Itachi. As if he was immune to the Uchiha's dislike.

"…," Itachi's glare was unrelenting.

Beneath his mask, Tobi felt a sweat drop roll down. "…_Okay_ then," someone didn't look very pleased to see his comrades. And almost as if he had attention deficit disorder, Tobi noticed the pretty girl who looked a little roughed up. "Is this her, Deidara-senpai? The girl you wouldn't stop talking about the entire trip here?"

Kanna raised an eyebrow, 'he is of akatsuki also? You have to be kidding me.'

Tobi cocked his head to the side innocently, "ha ha! Now I do see why you're angry with me. You'd prefer this pretty girl to be your partner than I." How like his senpai. So rather satisfied with his conclusion, Tobi turned to peer at Deidara with his lone eye. "Well Deidara-senpai, you should know her partner will have to be someone who can keep his hands to himself…"

"That's it!" Spat Deidara then, eyebrow twitching and a little vein atop his forehead throbbing. "That's three, you idiot. Now get the fuck over here."

Both Haru and even the Uchiha watched as the clay master went up to Tobi in a aggressive way. Tobi had put his hands up to shield himself, but didn't look quite sure where to shield cause Deidara had no mercy when it came to him. "Nah Deidara-senpai, I was just kidding. You're not a pervert!"

"Death by asphyxiation!" Deidara's mouthed palms enclosed about Tobi's neck, then began to strangle him like a chicken.

Head bonking around, almost like a crazed bobble head, Tobi choked out desperately- "you're repeating yourself Deidara-senpai!" Wow he had quite a grip, that was for sure.

The clay master grit his teeth, "no, last time I used my knee caps to choke you." And he continued to strangle Tobi, "so there's a difference, hmm!"

"…," Through his dangerously narrowed sharingan, Itachi watched the display of foolishness. "That's enough," he warned in a low tone.

So low, it appeared the only one who heard him was Kanna. Itachi in fact noticed the girl was the only one listening; so like a judge's gavel, Itachi removed a kunai and sent it hissing through the air. With a loud slam, its blade embedded in the wall Deidara had Tobi up against. It nearly got Deidara's ear.

"Watch where you're tossing those Itachi-san!" Deidara snapped in reflex.

Itachi stood unmoved, "I was."

Up against the wall, face beneath his mask blueberry blue, Tobi was oddly thankful for Itachi's kunai nearly poking his last eye out and cropping Deidara's ear. "He's got good aim," Tobi commented.

Deidara then drew away, "no you think so?" he huffed sarcastically.

With all foolishness said and done, Deidara walked over to Itachi. He began to speak seriously to him, in a low tone so Kanna wasn't able to make out a word. But as Deidara spoke to Itachi's stoic form, it soon became obvious with the stolen glances her way, who they were exactly talking about.

Ready to question both of them, Itachi suddenly turned around and Deidara followed after him. Both men were on their way to the kitchen, it seemed time for sake and more of a private conversation. But before Itachi disappeared down the hall, he paused. "…Kanna-san, tend to your brother." It was almost as if he expected her to have no intensions of caring for Kouji at all.

With Deidara and Itachi out of sight, Kanna still feeling very insulted by the events minutes before, then nudged Kouji forward leading him to her assigned room. "Come now Kouji, there is a lot we need to talk about." True to that.

The Haru boy shrugged her hand off, but walked down the hall nonetheless. Both Haru kept quiet as they approached Kanna's door, until the girl took notice that Tobi was following them. "Hey!" She then bit, twisting around strictly.

Tobi perked his head up when Kanna took notice of his following. "Yes, Kanna-san?"

With a rather suspicious look, the young woman took in Tobi's odd appearance. "Why are you following? Is it because all akatsuki do not understand the meaning of the word _privacy_?" Her eyebrows were furrowed, lips tightly curled in this upset frown.

A bit startled by this angry expression she had, Tobi just scratched the back of his head gingerly before daring to speak. "Orders, Kanna-san. Kouji-kun is not to leave my sight."

She opened her door then, gesturing with her hand lightly for Kouji to go inside. "Well…why? Explain." Tobi had all reason to question Kanna's sour attitude. He wasn't aware what just happened moments before him and Deidara landed with her little brother.

"Well…" Tobi tapped his chin in honest thought. "I really don't know. I'm just following my orders. And you know, I was just made a member."

"…," Kanna glowered. Yes she had heard him express his greenness in Akatsuki, when he was talking to Deidara moments ago. "All right well I don't particularly care. So go away."

"But I cannot Kanna-san!" retorted Tobi, surprised by how quickly she basically told him to buzz off. Now coming to think about it, Deidara had expressed she had a haughty temper.

Kouji was wandering curiously in Kanna's assigned room, as she stood rigid before the doors speaking with Tobi. The masked man decided he was going to fulfill his first orders and not let that boy leave his sights whatsoever! "Erm…" Tobi felt nervous as Kanna continued to glare at him, her body in the way of him entering the room. She was like a sinister gate, with two arms ready to slap any intruder silly. Tobi was a little fearful.

"I said," she closed her eyes, attempting to stay calm, "…for you to go away."

"You don't understand Kanna-san, I really want my first assignment to go well. So maybe if we could come to some understanding?" Tobi then raised an eyebrow beneath his mask as Kanna leant her hand out and wafted downward for him to come closer. "Uh, maybe you could be kind enough to just leave the door open for me?" he stepped cautiously forward.

Kanna waited with all good patience, till Tobi's masked face was in the perfect spot. "Understanding…kind enough?" she repeated, while lolling her head to the right. When Tobi nodded his head, honestly hoping for no hostility. Kanna snickered and slammed her bedroom doors closed right before his face with a loud and piercing _crack_. Surprisingly, she didn't splinter the wood.

Tobi stood startled. That girl's glare, her slightly hostile acts were frightening. And now he got a good close up of the manor's quality paper patched doors. "How rude," he spoke in a quiet caution, before plopping outside the doors lotus style and twiddling his thumbs.

---

Within the manor's vast kitchen, Deidara pulled himself up a bar chair to the kitchen counter. Frost which had collected in the folds of his cloak, began to melt now and drip onto the tiled floor. With a light hand, he removed his cloak and hat to carelessly toss them over a chair next to him. "Cold as fuck out there," he commented, "…and you sit comfy in here with good company, hmm. While I had and have to from this day forward, endure the stupidity of that idiot."

Itachi knew there was no need for a real explanation why Rei decided to grant Tobi his wish and put him in Akatsuki rank. Itachi plainly figured the patience of their wondrous leader ran hair thin. Desperate times called for desperate measures. Appointing Tobi as Akatsuki, was a very desperate measure. Itachi's stone still stature then shifted a bit as he turned his head to watch Deidara at the corner of his eye. The clay master had got up to sift through the various objects within a cabinet.

Deidara really didn't like being in Itachi's presence. The Uchiha was far too quiet -- brooding if you will. So thin digits poking between bottles, he tossed a grin over his shoulder to Itachi. "Never one for deep conversation, are you hmm?"

"…," Itachi turned his head away and peered outside carelessly.

"Humph," scoffed Deidara, finally finding a bottle of sake. "Well if you won't talk Itachi-san, I will."

Back down from the cabinet, he pulled himself back up to the kitchen counter, flicking those long blonde bangs to one side so he could peer coy-like to Itachi. "…Kakuzu finally decided to join us again afterall, taking place of that failed cloud shinobi I brought. Then before Tobi dimwitted himself in our ranks, some fool entitled Hidan, slaughtered the kunoichi from Waterfall, hmm." With a little mushroom puff sigh, Deidara poured himself a generous amount of sake in a typical glass. "Did a favor by putting her out of her misery I suppose. Kisame really did a number on her, hmm."

Difficult it was to tell if Uchiha Itachi was listening to anything Deidara had to say. His eyes were averted elsewhere. Just watching the skies through the window; clouds turning a light gray and bunching up like spring sully cotton dropped in tar. Itachi also didn't speak. Instead, he was in deep thought.

Finishing his glass of sake, Deidara glared at the back of Itachi's head. "Oh yes and before I forget, Tobi is also here to watch that little brat, hmm." He was referring to Kanna's little brother Kouji. "If you ask me, something is disturbing about him. Mute, but still able to act conceited."

That was when Itachi stirred. "Deidara-san," came that eerily calm tone.

"Yeah?" the blonde had his elbows on the table, one blue eye peering to the mouths in his hands which smirked and licked their palm skin lips.

"I gave you and Kisame direct orders to request that Kanna-san only be allowed to visit her brother and nothing more." Form turning about strictly, Itachi's eye depressions darkened with that sinister glare.

Hearing Itachi's not so happy tone, Deidara gave a smug expression and his hands formed into hard fists. "Don't waste your breath Itachi-san, I read the scroll hmm." And had a good chat with Kisame about Itachi also. What a lovely, enlightening trip back to base that was.

Seeing that expression surface on Deidara's face, didn't seem to phase Itachi. "Then are you illiterate?" Itachi's rhetorical question, had that crisp of cruelty. "Because that boy is here."

Illiterate? Deidara's eyebrows furrowed and his lips thinned. But though his smug expression was killed by Itachi's cruel tongue insulting his intelligence, Deidara still felt a conceited satisfaction inside. The reason why- "No, I'm afraid you're wrong Itachi-san." the clay master smirked, "you were just simply overruled, hmm."

A slight tension then shot up. Itachi glared to Deidara, "Rei," the Uchiha spat.

"Yep. That boy is the marvelous centerpiece to Kanna-san's creative initiation. So if you disagree about this contentious topic, then take it up with Rei-sama. And don't take it out on the messenger, hmm."

Sharingan narrowed, Itachi went silent. 'So, it has come to that,' he inwardly scowled at the despicable ways of Akatsuki. But he knew this was how it was. "Then why bother assigning Tobi to watch the boy?" he inquired, while making his way towards the kitchen exit.

Deidara was spacing out on his sake glass now. But his head perked up to leer. "A babysitter, while you and I accompany Kanna-san on her very first mission…in four days, hmm." He gripped his sake glass, tossed his head back and chugged the liquor, before slamming his cup down and heckling.

----------------------------------------------------------

By the next morning, the manor was pulsing with far more life than it had been with just Itachi and Kanna wandering beneath its roof. Deidara during the morning had been attempting to explain to Tobi, how someone living without the appreciation of true art, wasn't really living at all. And Tobi, well he just sat there looking straight at Deidara, without even moving. The clay master could have continued to go on ranting endlessly, if it hadn't been for this deep snore. Tobi later regretted such, since now he was nursing a massive bump on his head from Deidara's angry fist.

Behind the door Tobi sat in front of, Kanna was knelt down on a tatami mat. Kouji was seated in front of his sister, head being bent in odd directions as she pinched locks of his shaggy hair between her fingers and ran a kunai along the strands. She was attempting to make his cut even. "Are you hungry?" Kanna suddenly questioned.

"…," Kouji simply shook his head, just before shrugging Kanna's hand off of his shoulder.

Chocolate brown sights gazing onto the back of Kouji's head, almost lost in the abyss black of his hair just like hers, Kanna felt a nibble at the back of her mind. 'Even after all this, he still refuses to muster a word to me…'

Four days had passed since Kouji was brought to the manor. And those days, hours, minutes that dragged by had Kanna realize how utterly out of place her brother looked within these criminal fingerprint sullied walls. Maybe it really had been too long. Kanna perhaps had slowly became accustomed to her akatsuki company. To _his_ company. Strange, it was. Anger coaxing also, since Itachi continued to run through her head like an endless film of tragedy.

With a fist of strands, she discarded them out into the early winter breeze. Kouji's dark, airborne tresses reminded Kanna of the dark haired, red eyed theme pulsing so alive in her mind. How just barely four days ago, Itachi had lit her body afire. That hungry moment against the cold shed wall, he had her loins sore with so much need, anticipation for the unknown and wrong. Arms open she welcomed him. And now, or rather after her cheap discard, Kanna recoiled bitterly from Itachi's presence. Maybe, just maybe since those four days, Itachi and Kanna gave each other enough half-assed, few worded responses to fill a empty walnut shell.

"Kouji, you're too skinny…" she told, voice soft with her thoughts not all to interested in her own voice.

Kouji's neck was beginning to hurt now, sore from pulling against Kanna's rough combing. And he cringed, looking over his shoulder to her with a pout. His sister's physical appearance had also changed drastically. Kanna had dark circles beneath her eyes, she appeared tired and utterly spent. Not even as well kept as before.

"Sure you're not hungry?" she persisted with a bit more attention.

"…," with no vocal reply, Kouji just shook his head. He wasn't hungry for her food.

She exhaled heavily, before drifting back into her own thoughts. 'Such an insult,' how could Kanna swallow that one night, digest it, and forget all? She could not. The taste, both spicy and sour came up like persistent heartburn. Never before had Kanna hauled such anger. Even if she was one to hold grudges. But…was it really anger? 'But why?' Her fingers slipped closer to the base of the kunai blade in hand.

Kanna realized she had never been a very intimate person. She hadn't the upbringing for it. Busy, aloof, and not all that interested in the opposite sex like all her other girl cousins. Kanna grew up wishing to be a loner. And when she got her wish, well with the new start no man wanted her in Kusagakure. 'What a laugh,' she inwardly snickered, tossing more black locks into the atmosphere. 'None of them would even double take…' The men in Kusagakure wanted absolutely nothing to do with Haru Kanna. Not only because of her blood, but because of the rumors of who she really was. A hateful clan brat.

'That Uchiha Itachi…he just left. Expecting me to accept how willingly he can toss me aside like some cheap whore!' inside that fretful mind, Kanna's conscience shouted, throwing a mental tantrum chanting for respect. 'How dare he!'

A sudden sting on her index finger, caused Kanna to drop back into reality. "Ah-" she complained, eyeing the little red bead which inflamed from the kunai nick.

"…?" Kouji turned his head briefly to watch Kanna's blood dry, then she just flicked it away. To Kouji, Kanna seemed troubled. Many signs he knew of, signifying Kanna was upset. His older sister usually spoke a lot. Nonstop the girl would complain about something. Whether it be the bright sun or the cold weather outside. And yet now, the little words that trickled from her pursed lips…well it all just seemed like random nonsense.

"Huh," she exhaled, still holding the kunai in her twitching hand as she stared out the back doors of her room. "Winter is upon us."

"…," perfect example of the random nonsense.

Outside Kanna's door, Tobi took a real pledge to sitting outside as long as she locked Kouji up in there with her. Lotus style, twiddling his thumbs as always, Tobi amused himself with absolutely nothing. He was just having a nice dull sit. That was until he felt that eerie oddness, like someone was glaring holes through him. "Huh?" Tobi turned his head.

Infamous cloak of black decorated with red clouds just like his, somehow possessed a more threatening presence on Uchiha Itachi. So threatening, that Tobi sucked in the gum he had been chewing on. "Ack-!" with a cough, then a good hammer fist to his chest, Tobi choked out a greeting. "G-good afternoon Itachi-san, you snuck up on me."

Itachi raised an elegant eyebrow. He found it strangely irritating to know Tobi was dimwitted enough to sit outside Kanna's door night and day, waiting for Kouji. Did Kanna strike a fear in the masked man who she impeded of his duties? Sharingan ablaze, their sight was locked on Tobi. "Move," the Uchiha demanded in that emotionless voice.

"Of course!" said Tobi; he mine as well salute. Tobi scurried out of Itachi's way immediately.

'What a curious fear it is…' Itachi walked forward, fingers lightly running along the wooden frame of the sliding doors as he hesitated to walk in. 'She causes me to even hesitate…' Itachi wondered if Kanna's obvious discomfort, her upset frown she now shot at him, could have kindled this diminutive curious fear in him. As if Itachi was unable to face Kanna after that night out of shame.

At a momentary stance, Tobi peering to Itachi's frozen stand inquisitively, the Uchiha then muttered a toneless- "absurd." And followed that up with sliding Kanna's doors open and walking in. No woman's foolish disdain could cause him to hesitate.

The sudden sound of the bedroom doors opening caught Kouji and Kanna's attention. It seemed wherever and whenever Uchiha Itachi made an entrance, his presence killed the lively atmosphere.

Itachi found no surprise when Kanna scowled and her head veered about as if the sight of him was sickening. "…" No matter, he placed his standing form right behind the grass kunoichi, shadow looming over her. "Kouji-kun, go into the next room…" Itachi leant an elegant hand upward to tuck his bangs behind his ear, "I need to speak with your sister."

Kouji gave a blank stare, still sitting in front of Kanna as she put her kunai down near Itachi's feet. She then took in a cool breath, beginning to dust herself of the dark trimmings. "My little brother doesn't need to leave my room. Whatever you have to say to me Itachi-san, you can say in front of him." Her defiant tone was calm.

That air of bad attitude rising from Kanna, tapped Itachi's cold blood. He peered momentarily down to her sitting, "…the last time I checked Kanna-san, you were the captive and I…the captor, " he slowly knelt to pick the discarded kunai up. Middle finger through the weapon's handle hole, Itachi regained his posture while spinning the kunai. This spine chilling hiss from the speed, his precession with the blade…and that glare had both Kanna and Kouji gulp. "Have things changed and I have just been ignorant to it all?"

Perhaps wiser than his older sister in some ways, Kouji took that as a cue to draw himself up. He felt some odd hostility between his sister and Uchiha Itachi manifest. His guess was that she really resented him from dragging her away from home. Well Kouji could care less. Not like there was much in Kusagakure anyway. Sure it was home, but home was where your family and friends were. Him and Kanna…yeah they didn't have either of those elements in Hidden Grass anymore.

A few moments had passed with Kanna glaring stubbornly off to the side as Itachi kept his own glare on her while spinning the kunai, as if daring the girl to take challenge. "Kouji-kun…go. Now," Itachi would not repeat himself again. So with no more hesitation, Kouji walked passed Itachi and out of the sliding doors into the hall. Where Tobi got up and followed him like a lost shadow.

"…." Silence upon Kouji's leave.

With a bit of a snicker, the Uchiha' s thumb flicked out to stop the blade's menacing spin. He then sauntered around Kanna like a vulture. Once out in front of her, where she now glared to his feet, Itachi lazily leant his hand out baring the kunai.

Kanna made no sudden movements at first. She instead flickered her eyes upward, watching carefully as Itachi held the kunai out to her in no hostile way. "Thank you," she took the blade so fast, Itachi barely had time to blink. "So, what do I owe this fortuitous visit from my little brother?" she questioned, while bringing herself to an abrupt stance before walking out on the deck to finish dusting Kouji's hair from her yukata. Really her yukata had been washed so many times lately, that its color was beginning to fade. The stains of blood were brighter than the maroon dye of her sash, darker than the outline of her clan insignia upon the back.

In no way did Itachi want to deal with Kanna's attitude. Obvious she had one. Her body language was so loud. Truly obnoxious. "Multiple reasons," was Itachi's vague reply to her question. He found himself fingering the cloth of his cloak as it laid open about his broad shoulders.

No longer feeling itchy with trimmings, Kanna stepped back inside and drew the doors shut that lead out to the deck. Winter was upon them and her skin was no longer just as pale as snow, but just as cold. "Multiple reasons? That's not even a real answer," she told Itachi, in a most bitter voice.

"I'm aware of that…" he calmly stated, eyes fluttering closed with not much care.

That eerie calm demeanor he possessed infuriated Kanna. "Fine! Be that way. Just tell me what you came in here to say so you can leave your _captive_, to her solitude," such sarcasm.

Inwardly he smirked at how childish she could be. The way she huffed, puffed, and even with his eyes closed Itachi was aware how narrowed Kanna's own sights were…could she even see? "Be ready in precisely twenty minutes-" the Uchiha started in his monotone.

"For what?" she abruptly interrupted.

Itachi would have given a frustrated exhale, if he were a more emotional person. "Why not be quiet, maybe if you listen as intently as you talk…" sharingan drew open, "you'll have less questions."

The young woman crossed her arms, scowled, but went quiet nonetheless. And when Itachi figured she was good and ready to hear him out, he began to finger the buttons of his cloak. "Nineteen minutes…before you and I depart from this manor. In order to begin your first assignment under Akatsuki order."

Even with those doors drawn shut, Kanna felt a cold draft chill her soul and crack her haughty attitude like a mirror. Also, she felt a little nausea. "_Already_?" Kanna inquired with disbelief.

Time was ticking by and Itachi buttoned his high collar up, readying himself for the chilling trip to this village stated on the files Deidara had brought back from base. "This mission doesn't call for extreme physical exertion…so don't shrivel with doubt just yet Kanna-san," said Itachi. Yes he already knew her well enough, to assume all her insecurities were creeping up.

The soft sound of popping could be heard now, as Kanna cracked her knuckles one by one with nervous tension. "Been far too long since anything was ever expected of me…well, with regards to actual authentic shinobi work," stated Kanna, her voice softening from that sharp tongue she had moments before.

He watched her closely. In some way, like on the wisp of that bitter breeze outside, came a call from someone somewhere, expecting and now hinting Itachi to lend out a hand of comfort to Haru Kanna.

"And Tobi will stay with Kouji?" Kanna questioned.

"…," Sharingan stare so fixed as Itachi zoned out on Kanna's form, the grass kunoichi voice broke him free. "Yes," he answered. Itachi then turned around and walked to the doors, finger poking through a sliver, he slid one open. He could almost feel the young woman's eyes burning holes in his back. "…seventeen minutes, Kanna-san," said Itachi, giving her one last glance over his shoulder before leaving.

---

Seventeen minutes didn't seem long enough to her at all. Kanna had no idea what to make of the little time she was given. At first all she did was curse Itachi for not telling her about this mission earlier and stare at her old things. Kunai, shuriken, her jounin outfit. Kanna's brown eyes only drifted to her hitai-ate once. 'Do I need any of this?' Itachi stated there would be no high physical exertion. So maybe she'd only take what could be concealed within her clothing. Hand reaching out, her digits grabbed at her kunai pouch. "How…nostalgic."

Dull gray of late autumn casting a dismal glow for her first assignment, Kanna stood between the front doors looking out to the manor front yard by herself, now wondering where spring had gone. Not that she didn't take pleasure in autumn and winter. But everything for her presently seemed to be operating on the theme of despair. Her thought was then broken as Itachi finally stepped out onto the deck from his room and made his way onto the moist soil. In his right hand raised that odd hat Kanna thought made Akatsuki look like malevolent mushroom.

Actually Itachi rather enjoyed the concealing capabilities of the hat, its paper sides, and of course the cloak. He was easily recognizable, those eyes of his stood out like a sore thumb. So with the terrorist organization's attire, he felt more secure passing through villages. "Come now Kanna-san," he said, now tipping his hat upward with a single digit. Over the cloak's rim, shadowed by the brim of his hat, Itachi's intimidating sharingan set on Kanna's still form. She appeared to be frozen in place with worry. 'This will be her first day out of the manor since the capture…' he reminisced.

Between her fingers Kanna crinkled a little paper wad and mouthed words she could no longer choke down, "I can't do this." Though unable to see Itachi's scowl creasing his thin lips on the account of his high collar, Kanna witnessed Itachi's displeasure by his eyebrows furrowing. Of course, she then realized he was displaying a dislike not to her words, but rather to the person coming up from behind her.

A chuckle then sounded off. "Awe yes, what a inspiring and wonderful moment this is hmm." Deidara laid his right hand on Kanna's left shoulder lightly. "Aren't you just welling with anticipation my dear Kanna-san?" Face looming close to hers, Deidara's blonde bangs flopped over his eye elegantly.

Kanna blinked profusely over her shoulder, "What on earth are you talking about?" she questioned in a astonished tone. "I'm about ready to drop dead of nervousness!" Or else she'd throw up. Either way nothing too pleasant. Deidara chuckled some more while adjusting his scope.

From across the yard by that thick iron black gates which surrounded the manor, Itachi found himself watching Kanna with Deidara very carefully. The grass kunoichi had taken no notice, but this smug grin which spread Deidara's lips thin, said he took notice. "Awe don't fret, I will be accompanying you hmm."

With that said, Deidara playfully went behind Kanna, his arms then wrapped lightly about her shoulders so they staggered forward. He was a good few inches taller than her, so she had to scowl upward. "What are you doing?" said Kanna, unable to walk properly because of his weight. Deidara then put his fist in front of the girl's face, having Kanna's eyes almost go cross. Opening his palm, he revealed one of his three mouths. A thick tongue passed the slit in his palm, licking skin which could have been lips, and revealing square nub like teeth which nibbled in Kanna's direction.

Her lip curled, "so is that somehow suppose to make me feel better?"

Deidara stared to Kanna finding her reaction worth another good chuckle. "Depends… does it make you feel better Kanna-san?" the clay master used a teasing, almost flirty tone.

She heard it very clear. But without much care Kanna shook her head and laughed. "No, can't say it does. Makes me even more uncomfortable actually." So far, she hadn't found Deidara's presence totally unbearable. "Huh," Kanna then sighed as her fingers enclosed about Deidara's wrist as they came to a standstill by Itachi. "Girls must love your…uh, gifts."

Deidara liked the fact she was taking an interest in his very gifted hands. So much he paid no mind to Itachi glowering his way. "Maybe…" he said coyly, "but I only have eyes for the finest hmm." He caught Kanna's brown sight in the stare of his sapphire. So he grinned her way, ready to swear to anyone she was blushing.

"Deidara-san," came the strict tone of Itachi. Both Deidara and Kanna looked his way. "Stop fooling around, we don't have forever." And he didn't have the temperament to bear witness to Deidara's embarrassing antics at trying to impress Kanna.

With a soft snicker, then a glance to Itachi's angry stare, the clay master reluctantly moved away from Kanna. "Patience Itachi-san. Art of great magnificence, like my own…" He held his right hand out, the palm upward as the mouth was obviously busy chewing on something in a sloppy manner. "Well it takes time, hmm." After a few more seconds of chewing, Deidara's mouth stuck its tongue out, revealing a white shapeless mound of clay.

Kanna stared to the little mound of clay questionably. It didn't look like anything. But Deidara wasn't done. He closed his palm, gave the clay a few good squeezes, then revealed a tiny little white bird. Once he dropped it to the floor, Deidara performed two hand signs and white smoke exploded from nowhere. Kanna and Itachi stepped back a little. If she had any questions before of what the little bird was, she now realized it had been a similar model to Deidara's transportation. Only thing was, this bird was a little bigger.

With a simple hop, Deidara boarded his masterpiece. Itachi soon followed. "So Kanna-san, what do you think of my sculpture, hmm?" Legs straddling the birds neck, the clay master waited for Kanna's answer.

Already Itachi's chakra plastered him to the white clay bird's smooth surface by his feet. He was looking off elsewhere, but found his head slowly turning so he could stare to Kanna.

"Well its…" she faltered, while crossing her arms in real thought. What did she think of his sculpture? Kanna didn't really know how to respond. She did figure time was of the essence, since Deidara's one visible eye was peering to her urgent with need. "Uh," Kanna winced, "it's a very nice…uh, seagull?"

That crooked grin that Deidara had been wearing confidently, totally broke and his head slumped. Kanna's eyes widened, figuring out right away that was the wrong answer. "It's a crow, Kanna-san," groaned Deidara. Now if Kanna had been Tobi, the clay master would have shot his mouth off about how stupidity truly blinds and ignorant people could not comprehend art. But this was Kanna.

Face flushing a little pink, Kanna closed her eyes and rubbed the back of her head nervously. "Oh, yeah I totally knew that," she was so lying.

With a little black cloud looming over Deidara's head as he tapped the broadside of his seagull/crow's neck for it's tail to lower, Itachi couldn't help but smirk at Kanna's amusing answer and Deidara's despair to it all.

Kanna walked up the birds lowered tail, Deidara saved her a hop. So now aboard, Kanna sat towards the right wing, Itachi by the left, and Deidara as pilot was in front. About to take off, the three passengers then heard the doors of the manor slide open. "Kouji?" Kanna stared to her little brother questionably as Tobi came up behind him.

"Aren't you going to say goodbye Kouji-kun?" Tobi inquired, in a tone probably more suited for a toddler.

"…," Kouji kept silent, not even lifting his hand up as Deidara's massive white clay bird flapped its wings and took off in a quick jog. A gust of wind picking up damp leaves, it appeared like a small hurricane was born in the front yard. Kouji brought his right hand up to shield his eyes, merely watching with a blank expression as his sister and the two male akatsuki were airborne.

Once the flying debris settled back onto the muddy cold earth, Tobi quickly chafed his gloved hands together. Why had not Kouji said farewell to his sister? "Kouji-kun," he poked the young Haru's shoulder.

Still as a sapling, Kouji then rolled his shoulders at the feel of Tobi poking his shoulder like a persistent bird. "…what is it Tobi?" he muttered.

The masked man ceased with the prodding, "you should come inside. Its really cold out here."

Such a calm expression was worn on Kouji's porcelain heart face. "Don't worry about it. But put yourself to some use and make me something to eat," one last light breeze swept along the manor side, taking Kouji's bangs and flopping them over his left eye, "…I'm hungry," he finished.

* * *

a/n: School is such a bother when I'd rather sit and waste time on my fic. Lol Really writing is so much more enjoyable. Anyway, for those people who just discovered my fanfic and have been nice enough to review, it does take me up to a month to update. Two on occasions that my muse slacks. And in the case of this chapter, she was on the couch eating doritos!

All right I want to touch on the 'sexual content'. I've read plenty of fics on this site with WAY more detail than my own when it regards sexual content. But I don't want to be banned! -hides- So I will take great care in putting what I can and can't in my writings. So those perverts out there (like me) lol, there will be nosebleeds, but I'm not going to make a adultfanfic account just for this fic. Maybe in the future.

Speaking of the future. I have a summary on my profile, telling about the next fanfic I will be working on. Well maybe. So if you want, go check it out. And if its no trouble, tell me what you think via private message or in a review.

Thank you everyone for reviewing! You're all so awesome and supportive. Of course I read every one of your reviews and reply. Except the anonymous. But maybe that will change.

-connie


	15. land of silk

_"Down the hill, at the final step of thirteen, I stumbled upon a weathered poem entitled: Tome. Concocted by a nameless poet I nearly discarded it's insignificance to the black snow of the unforgivable city. However something murmured to reconsider. So uncoiling the paper prudently, I was suddenly conscious to just how fortunate I was to find such wisdom. For I will share it with all of you…it is of life, how it works, and just how to contain uncontainable happiness…"_

A shadow and a threat drifted across the broad side of the moon, accompanied by a slow-moving current of black clouds which splotched the vast indigo curtain of the evening darkness. A strong yet slender hand elegantly slipped from beneath an Akatsuki cloak in order to pull the robe tighter about a marvelous male stature. Itachi even tipped the brim of his sugegasa, assuming he could shield his sensitive eyes from the blistering cold. But there was no use, for his exposed hands got the full extent of icy wind that felt like a hundred senbon per gust. 'Traveling by foot would have been far easier…' Itachi inwardly scoffed, while flashing a red stare to the back of Deidara's unsuspecting straw blonde head.

Every cloud the clay bird happened to flap through, felt like it's own floating arctic world. At one point Itachi considered ordering Deidara to descend from such a high altitude. But sense beckoned Itachi to reconsider, since they would surely be meeting their destination soon enough and the mask of night and cloud would be an advantage worth keeping.

With what seemed like a careless loll of his head to the right, Itachi focused his gaze on Kanna's huddled form. Her small, pudgy hands were tucked beneath her underarms, pasty white legs tightly pressed together, and her knees practically shoved beneath her soft jaw as she shuddered. She was cold. And Itachi could see in plain sight just why. Her yukata tapered down by the stressing stretch of her position, was a thin cotton meant for considerably warmer seasons. 'Even in my attire…' his black cloak adorned with red clouds over a uniform of pallid purple, 'this weather still seeps through.'

Itachi's lips which were flaking cause of the ruthless atmosphere, rubbed together uncomfortably as his red eyes briefly flickered downward in contemplation. He was very capable of denying any sort of concern for Kanna, however he was set off-balance to find himself creating excuses in his head on why he could not simply allow her to sit there freezing like some feral alley cat, and feel good with himself.

Exhaling heavily while those broad shoulders rolled smoothly with a fresh decision, "Kanna-san," he began tonelessly, but… then seemed uncertain how to proceed?

Caught with no word, his purely intimidating stare ascended to notice a very peculiar thing. There was no need for him to waste his precious breath in order to demand Kanna's attention, for she had been staring to him seemingly the entire time!

Drawing back with a gasp, Kanna's brown eyes went wide with alarm. Her entire face nearly flushed a tomato red, so she began to frantically recite a prayer in her mind that beseeched the frigid atmosphere to smudge away the discoloration of embarrassment. Guilty of staring to the mysterious man parallel to her, embarrassment was glossed over with discomfort as Itachi raised one of his elegant eyebrows with curiosity, probably expecting her to say something.

"Um…" Kanna had difficulty staring elsewhere, it was like removing rusted nails from a wall. For the first few tens of seconds she kept that petrified expression.

Well it seemed at least up until her mind regurgitated the memory of their carnal act of four days ago. Cause all too suddenly, Kanna's expression turned firm. Lips curving into a wintry scowl, she flashed it in Itachi's direction; a clear warning.

"Hey," interrupted Deidara's more lively tone, "you look practically frost-bitten back there Kanna-san," Legs hung loose about the clay bird's neck, Deidara tossed a smile over his shoulder to the girl. Obviously he was oblivious to the tension between his passengers.

And almost as if the Uchiha and Haru had left Deidara out on a joke solely about him, both quickly looked away from the other. Kanna peered down to watch the rolling hills and jagged peaks, while Itachi set his strict attention on the oncoming sky and its vacant space.

"Hey, Kanna-san what's the matter, hmm?" persisted Deidara. One of his mouthed hands leant up to comb aside his long blonde bangs, uncovering that eye scope. "Heh," he chuckled a bit while zooming in on Kanna's pale heart-shaped face, curtained by long black hair. "Well…?"

"I'm not much of a flyer, I prefer the ground," she confessed, while rubbing her arms up and down to have the cotton cloth chafe for a bit of warmth. Perhaps she could rub off the feel of Itachi's haunting touch as well.

Deidara blinked, "and that's _all_ that's bothering you at the moment, hmm?"

"…," well, Kanna could think of quite a few other things. However, decided to keep her serious problems a bit more to herself today, "besides preferring the old _travel by foot_, I'm just dandy," she lied, but gave a quick dimpled smile to assure Deidara she was truthful.

"Hmm…dandy?" playfully Deidara tapped his purple nail polished fingers to a unknown beat. "Horrible liar Kanna-san. Not that I don't enjoy what little clothing you wear-" he saw her suddenly scowl and protectively tighten the grip on her knees, "now what kind of gentlemen would I be, if I didn't loan you my cloak?" That broad grin creased across Deidara's smug face.

Kanna was hesitant, curious if that was a rhetorical question. "Uh…?"

"I'll tell you," Deidara raised an index finger, then shook it at Kanna strictly, "not a gentlemen at all, that's what hmm."

Statuesque form unmoved in his sit, at that very moment Itachi's sharingan snapped their intense focus on his supposed comrade. He had reacted to Deidara's theatric empathy towards Kanna, in a less than appreciative way.

"Oh no Deidara-san, I'm fine, really," told back Kanna, while inwardly thinking how daft she was for turning down his offer. It was so cold above the clouds, that her skin which had been deprived of lotion since the time of her abduction, was turning an ashy white along the knuckles.

"Don't be shy now," chuckled Deidara, before pulling the long black cloak of Akatsuki from his frame, bundling it up, and then tossing it before Kanna's sandaled feet. "Unless of course," he raised a playful eyebrow, "my cloak isn't good enough to embellish your astonishing cuteness, hmm?"

Hesitant, Kanna stared to the cloak in a neat bundle at her feet with weariness. Yet in the end, the cold got the best of her. "Yeah all right, thank you," hands that felt on the verge of frost bite, reached out and grabbed the cloak. Kanna's digits were so cold her touch was numb to the fabric's texture.

The clay master watched Kanna wrap herself in his cloak. Something about knowing she accepted an article of his clothing, still warm from his body, had Deidara feeling quite lightheaded, practically on cloud nine. "You're very welcome, Kanna-san." That sly, toothy grin of his shimmered with satisfaction beneath the shade of his wide brimmed hat.

The flight had dragged out for at least forty-five more minutes. Forty-five more minutes of nothing but Deidara conversing with Kanna, making her feel uncomfortable with dirty jokes, and feeding his child-like interest in everything about her. Occasionally though, Deidara would contradict himself with certain things like stating he was very serious with his work in Akatsuki, and then seconds later go off on a tell-tale adventure of messing with his late x-Akatsuki partner, and indulging in liquor while he ought to have been searching for his target. Quite a few times Kanna did laugh and proved to be a _tearing laugher_, since tears streamed her cheeks so easily from chuckling. What she found truly amusing was not only that Deidara contradicted himself without realizing it, but his character was so refreshing. "You're crazy," laughed Kanna, shaking her head with a wide grin and then rubbing her watery eyes.

"Crazy like a fox," told back Deidara with a air of sarcastic sophistication. He saw Kanna turn her attention from him for just an instant, but that was all it took for him to feel ignored. So he slyly added- "and crazy for you, hmm."

There was a pause between Deidara and Kanna; Itachi was still sitting near the left wing, like an extra in the background of a horribly scripted romance/comedy flick. The Haru drew in a breath, before tossing a tear-blurred expression of joy over her shoulder to Deidara, that was a voiceless way of saying _suure_.

Deidara laid back on the clay bird, head turned to the side so he could look at Kanna while she sat, staring down to the earth. That one visible bluish green eye harboring a soft glow flickered longingly up and down the seventeen-year-old's frame. She would revert from joyfully laughing, to scowling out to the side so sudden. Deidara thought all his clever jokes and stories could brighten her mood, "Kanna-san," spoke Deidara.

Black mane caught in the wind, tossed like a shred of silk. Kanna messily tucked her long bangs behind her ears and looked to him questionably. "Yeah?"

"Answer me this," he rolled onto his right side lazily and rested his cheek in his palm as his elbow dug into the soft of his clay bird. "How is it possible that out of all your clan, you and that ungrateful brat you call your little brother, escaped the massacre with both of your lives, hmm?"

Itachi's full attention finally stirred. Sharingan glimmered beneath that wide brimmed hat while observing Kanna's reaction to Deidara's insensitive question and insult to Kouji. Deidara obviously hadn't a clue on what he was touching on.

Wrapped about in Deidara's cloak, Kanna seemed to recede into the black folds defensively. Too bad she hadn't covered her face, because the expression she gave, Itachi was now becoming quite familiar with. The kind of familiar, like a person who lived close to volcano. The signs of it's eruption came in mountain toppling earthquakes and ravenous bubbling lava spiting towards the heavens. And in Kanna's case, her furrowed elegant brows creased in anger, quaked the earth. And the silence she gave accompanied by such a dead-on stare, was like the churn of unruly lava. Itachi had first bore witness the day they first exchanged words. And just before this, when he had told her not to say a word about the their courtyard encounter.

"Wait…" Kanna drew in a shuddering breath, either from the cold or her extreme dislike of what Deidara said, "come again?"

With that insensitive curiosity, Deidara kept an innocent expression, "the Tsuchikage I heard sent only the finest of his jounin and ANBU. So I'm curious, how did you and your ill-mannered brother slink away from such proficient forces with your lives while the rest of your clan was exterminated, hmm?"

And there Itachi sat in the background of such a taut scene. And to be honest Itachi wouldn't trade anything at this moment to be elsewhere. Cause he had front row tickets to watch Deidara's idiocy, sabotage any foolish, dimwitted little hope he had at attracting Kanna.

Sharingan moving back and forth between the two, Deidara was patiently waiting for her reply, while Kanna was as rigid as a block of ice. In the eerie silence of the moment, Itachi pondered what was the full extent of Kanna's anger. Someone like her must have been bottling up enough animosity to savage a village in one foul spill.

Before the situation could get anymore uncomfortable for Kanna herself though, Itachi put his strange little bit of satisfaction aside then calmly intervened by pointing out they had just flown over Earth Country borders and were now in the airspace of their destination.

The Land of Silk -- wasn't a very vast territory, nor was it a homely place anyone would like to settle down and retire. That was because like the hierarchy of a withering apple tree, while insect-hollowed and decayed cores hung low and in reach, at the very height and in the case of The Land of Silk, at the far end of failed farm lands, the ripest of apples took like a beacon.

That beacon was a thriving, prosperous little town busy throughout day and night. By the light of the sun, women were coursing along the _Nashi Strip_, scurrying into various boutiques empty handed, and moments later emerging with more bags than they or their newly penniless boyfriends could handle. And during the night hours, elegant tea houses became the ideal meeting place for weary travelers, local nobles, and stressed businessmen in need of a relaxing drink and break from the ringing gambling clubs.

After a few moments of gazing down into the little pond of lights that was their destination, Itachi explained to Kanna in his bleak tone, that the Land Of Silk wasn't just known for its expensive clothing stores, little family owned businesses, and luxurious tea houses, but also for being a prime area for data gathering. "This village is where all information intersects…" Itachi tucked his left hand into his cloak then coolly dislodge a thin file, the same file Deidara had returned from base with. "Messengers, common folk, defected and loyal shinobi alike are attracted to this area like moths to an open flame. Sake and cunning geisha loosen their lips, and that is why we're here." Ending with a long stare before he handed Kanna the file, he gestured with a nod that all she needed to know was in there.

"So," interrupted Deidara, now sitting up on his knees, peering back to Itachi, and giving his clay bag an affectionate pat, "what's the plan Itachi-san?"

File open on her lap, Kanna carefully read the papers through and through, not wanting to screw this up in any way or form because she read wrong. Luckily for her, like the mission transcripts from her days back in Kusagakure, Akatsuki had their mission data set up almost identical, so it was simple to read.

In a nut shell, the mission was a find and rescue theme. The subject was explained to be an agent by the name of Tatsuya. Very little info was given on the subject, except for gender. Tatsuya, the female agent had been collecting data in this area, when her post was discovered to have ties with Akatsuki and she was taken in by ANBU of the second closest hidden village, Konohagakure. At the very bottom of the document, where Kanna was hoping to see a picture of the agent they were to be rescuing, was instead a bolded text. It read a warning, that this mission was running on a time limit. Konoha ANBU forces had a ninjutsu interrogation scheduled for 11:45 p.m. tonight. Meaning, the success of this mission depended on keeping Akatsuki secrets, secret.

Eyes pulling back from the text, Kanna took in a deep breath and looked to the men conversing. "I'll truly enjoy flaunting my art for the fun of scattering pesky leaf forces across these lands, hmm," Deidara gave that confident lop-sided grin. Which now, Kanna found distasteful.

Before she could interrupt though, Itachi broke from his silence -- "No…your position will stay overhead," he firmly told Deidara.

Eyebrows creasing, "wait -- what?" questioned the blonde, sounding almost insulted.

Itachi drew his strict form up, as if signifying the end of their conversation. However, sharingan fluttered shut as he carelessly addressed Deidara's outrage "Your jutsu is not efficient," he deadpanned, "nor is it a superior choice for stealth and silent infiltration, Deidara-san."

Deidara grudgingly looked up to Itachi as he stood so motionless, rigid like a rain doused statue. "Tch, then who will be your backup hmmm?" the sky was nearly silent, apart from the breeze and waft of the clay bird's wings. "Well?" persisted Deidara in a haughty tone of voice.

As if he was taking a moment to consider what Deidara was asking, Itachi then simply replied- "Kanna-san."

Anxious, even with the cold atmosphere, she felt a sweat bead roll down the outside of her dry throat. "Wait -- no!" Kanna retorted wide-eyed. "These papers distinctly say I am to observe. Further more Itachi-san, you said this mission wouldn't be physically exerting!" She kind of shook the papers at him, "but it's a rescue mission, and there are Konoha ANBU down there!"

"…," Itachi merely gave Kanna's astonishment an emotionless glance over his shoulder.

So, he would take the pending member as his support instead of Deidara. The blonde scoffed at Itachi, for changing the plan of the female just observing, to actually being on the lines. Waving his hand at Itachi, Deidara gestured a disrespectful _whatever_. "Fine, have her company. Besides, with the lavish report you had Kisame-san and I deliver to Rei-sama, she sounds capable enough hmm."

When Itachi said nothing in response, Kanna gawked. 'A report…' that sounded very familiar to her. With a few painful seconds of prying a harassed mind, Kanna did actually possess a recollection from a while back; Itachi stating he was going to send back a report on her status of improvement. A brief horror pinched at Kanna's neck, 'I didn't improve…' But that didn't correspond to what Deidara had just said. Kanna didn't pick up any sarcasm either.

In a cold sweat, she pondered about the prospect of Itachi actually lying. Could he have written a false report on her? And if so, why would he go to the trouble of doing such a dishonest thing and having it handed over to the Red Dawn's leader?

Itachi's mask of indifference did not waver as he could almost feel the air of suspicion about Kanna, on what was just said, "…our infiltration must not be known or even suspected till after we've succeeded, Deidara-san."

The clay master sat, legs crossed and arms mimicking, "humph, you believe so hmm?" he replied back curtly.

Simply ignoring Deidara, Itachi pressed on, "conceal yourself in the clouds, keep tabs on the opposites' possible backup…" sharingan narrowed so intensely, "I will not tolerate trouble that can be avoided. Is that clear, Deidara-san?"

The fruit of anxiety was ripe with her, and Kanna observed Itachi devote Deidara a forewarning stare. It didn't have to be said out loud which of the two men had more authority than the other. Kanna would not even doubt that perhaps out of all the Akatsuki, except perhaps the leader she had yet to meet, that surely Itachi was the strongest and the most influential member. Somehow she found that…well, impressive.

The Uchiha had not even looked away from Deidara, until the lesser huffily agreed that he wouldn't allow any hindrance to this, by pain of wordless torture -- via Itachi himself. So that all done and not said, Deidara changed the clay bird's course. With a deep swoop, the Akatsuki and Kanna took concealment within high reaching trees, just until they were close enough to the earth that Itachi and Kanna could comfortably dismount the flying sculpture.

The clay bird bent in its wings to slip through the thick pine trees that pressed in close to one another. So close and tight together the trees were, that at one point the bird veered onto its side, having Itachi and Kanna hold fast.

"Hold on, hmm!" called Deidara, wearing a large grin across his face since his warning was just a tad late. Bushes, bramble, and other unforgivable foliage with sharp limbs, reached out and tore at the passengers. Kanna had put her hands up so she could keep both of her eyes, while the rest of her was scratched and yanked in various directions.

And with a sudden jerk, the clay bird came to a mid-air standstill. Wind giving a strained moan in the darkness as it hovered in this clearing encircled by trees, debris dispersed in a damp mushroom cloud when the bird's claws made contact with the moist soil- "one of my more painful landings," the clay master commented, while turning about to watch Itachi and Kanna step off, both appearing harassed.

He expected a glare from the Uchiha, but instead got a face full of cloth. "Ouf-!?" Deidara grabbed at his face and unveiled himself. It seemed Kanna was returning his cloak, "Kanna-san?"

"Thank you Deidara-san, but I'm no longer cold!" she growled, while flashing a wintry scowl then stalked off.

"Well I beg to differ!" in disbelief that Kanna had just snubbed him, Deidara crawled along the back of his master piece and reached out with a desperate hand to her shrinking form, "wait Kanna-san, what did I do!?"

She merely gave him a "humph," In reply.

"What the hell did I do?" he groaned, before collapsing on his stomach to watch the proverbial dark cloud scoot itself over his golden head and proceed to rain down upon his parade.

The ruffle of cloak then had Deidara's ears perk. He witnessed Itachi about to saunter by, without a word it seemed, and as usual. However, Itachi came to a pause. He stood to the side, red scrutiny looking onward.

"Think before you speak Deidara-san…" said Itachi, tonelessly, "because Kanna-san will use you as an example of how us other Akatsuki present ourselves."

"Oh!" scoffed Deidara, raising up, "and how exactly do I present myself, Itachi-san? Enlighten me, hmm."

Like two sleeping coals being breathed upon, Itachi's sharingan lit with the night breath that swept his long dark bangs back; Deidara so welcomed the incoming insult "…like a tactless, dim-witted moron."

And with that Itachi walked off to follow after Kanna before she got herself into any nameless trouble. There was no need to stick around in order to relish Deidara's expression and lack of any witty comeback. Because all the satisfied warmth Itachi felt inside.

With autumn at the cliff of a December plunge, Kanna felt the weather couldn't be anymore against her. In her tantrum, she had carelessly tossed Deidara back his cloak, now she really did regret that. "Wait…" she came to an abrupt stop, "where the heck am I going!?" Brown eyes flicking from right to left, up and down, Kanna found herself in the depths of that thick green patch of something, which surrounded their correct destination from the airborne view. All was dark and the soggy leaf path she was following, barely had any lighting from the moon who struggled to break it's white beams through the thick canopy.

"Awe, great. Now I'm lost!" Kanna painfully shouted out loud, while throwing her hands up into the air and letting them drop to her sides like dead weight. "Hah, this is just so damn lovely!" For the oddest of reasons, now was the time she decided to shout at the innocent and unsuspecting woodland creatures.

Heart-shaped face almost unattractive with anger, she sent off a sharp look to the dark road ahead. White moths, the butterflies of the night, fluttered around Kanna, drawn in by the heat of her body and the standout paleness of her skin and attire. "I'd put bank on all bad luck and my karma making a pact behind my back," she growled, while breaking her stiff arms so they could cross her ample bust.

For any random person who was unfortunate enough to come across Kanna in this state, they might think she was a typical teenage girl dealing with typical teenage problems. Perhaps all her loud huffing and puffing, was thanks to a quarrel she had moments ago with her mother. For that's how much immaturity she radiated at this very moment.

"Why me?" she muttered to herself; the absence of a real family unit, her thwarted struggle for a normal life, the abduction, the inability to perform ninjutsu, Kouji despising the fact they shared blood, and…Itachi only wanting one thing from her…It all hurt, so bad. "Why can't something just go right for me -- just this once?" she desperately questioned the open airspace.

When she figured no one would answer her outlandish question, Kanna softly exhaled all the tension, having her expression fall anew in the glow of the countryside moon. "I have to do this…this mission _must_ be a success." Eyelids heavy and drawn down like the white petals of Moonflowers, Kanna was so lost in herself she hadn't noticed Itachi had finally caught up with her.

From afar he caught sight of her standing. In some small way, Itachi was fascinated how Kanna stood beneath the only beam of white light the moon could cast through the webby canopy. It almost made this desolate passage naturally fenced in by tree and bush, look like that of a cobblestone lane with only a lone street lamp to guide the way

Without a word, Itachi's inaudible steps took him to stand tall right behind Kanna. The seventeen-year-old seemed nearly oblivious to everything, so Itachi leant out a hand to gently prod Kanna's right shoulder.

"Huh!" the girl gasped, as if a static shock had stung her. Besides gasping like she'd just seen the Boogie Man, Kanna veered around, stumbled on her own feet, and so gracefully toppled over backwards into a mushroom patch with an _ouf_.

Itachi's inscrutable look then shifted into a distinct smirk, amused slightly, but his expressions were never excessive, just light. "With no cups or glasses to smash, you then fall over?" he inquired, while taking a step forward to get a better look at her.

Back against a tree, sitting upon a patch of now compacted wild mushroom, via her broad backside, Kanna glared upward at his horrible attempt at joking. "That's not funny. And why do you always need to sneak up on me!?"

Itachi took a moment to consider, "…have your wits about you from this moment on Kanna-san, falling over will not promote the success of this mission."

And with that he did a very generous thing. He once again leant his hand out, but to help Kanna regain her stance.

"…," Kanna peered to Itachi's drawn out hand softly, catching the detail of his ring and purple nail polish. Itachi believed she would take his help, but was proven wrong when she, like to Deidara, snubbed him with a wintry stare.

In return, Itachi's mouth thinned and with a snap, took back his hand. Kanna regained her dignified bearings soon after, then took the time to dust herself off. Somehow that tumble, had knocked her mind back in place. She dropped all other folly and began to concentrate on why they were here. "So where do we…?" Looking out to the side, Itachi had already walked off, far enough that Kanna felt her heart race cause the darkness was beginning to swallow him, leaving her alone.

Itachi was about the mission. He had always been, even when he didn't want to. His walk was easy, unhurried and yet that infamous cloak of black and red, ruffled like that of a ghost's gown. And as the wind swept from behind him, pressing the chilled cloth onto his warm back, the faint ring of a bell could be heard.

Finally catching up to his right side, Kanna was unable to keep her eyes to herself. That faint little ring had caught her interest, and she soon found out it was coming from a string of red metal beads and a lone bell dangling from his conical hat. Strips of white paper also dangling from the wide brim, kept the detail of Itachi's face and his remarkable sharingan obscured.

For fifteen minutes they walked, not a word spoken. Kanna couldn't help but feel uncomfortable with Itachi now. He knew more about her body than any other man on this planet did. She was sure that if she had not allowed him to go any further that night, she would be able to muster a word. "I…" mouth opening, all that came out was a dry vowel, that had been easily blown away in the breeze, to Kanna's dismay.

Another five minutes…five more…

Nothing but silence, with what seemed like an endless walk.

How Kanna could describe her feeling in a more understandable form, would probably be under the example of: a teenage girl, going to a party passed her posted curfew, engaging in drink, and in the end waking up nude, near someone she couldn't recollect a name for. And adding to that, going to school the next day and being science partners with that stranger. It was _that_ uncomfortable, unbearable, and embarrassing. And when she thought this would go on…

"Ask," came Itachi's monotone voice.

Kanna was once again startled, but in a more slight way. "…what do you mean?"

"Its only obvious you have something to ask, so…" Sharingan briefly fluttered shut.

Shoving aside the wonderment on exactly how long did Itachi know she had something to ask, the young woman turned a cheek to him. "Tell me, what did you send in that report. The one you sent with Kisame-san and Deidara-san."

"…," Itachi figured she'd ask that question sooner or later. Even so, he had yet to word a reasonable reply in his mind. What he had reported to Rei, had been words both far from the truth and yet so near. When Itachi had been concocting that scroll, paint brush in hand, its bristles thick with black ink and bending to his whim, Itachi decided allowing Kanna to fail after everything, would be disappointing even to him. "What was necessary, Kanna-san."

And she figured he'd give her a vague reply like that. "In other words, you lied about my improvements," assumed Kanna, now turning to gently eye him.

"Consider this Kanna-san," started Itachi, in his calculating tone, still looking straight ahead, "if I hadn't wrote what was necessary, you and Kouji-kun wouldn't have lasted this long." Sharingan peering over the high collar of his cloak, Itachi caught sight of Kanna wearing a rather questionable expression.

"…and how many more chances are you willing to give me, Itachi-san?" Kanna's voice was low, nearly on the verge of a crack, because she was unable to keep a clear picture of who Itachi was. He doused in the act of a callous heart, then dabbed with unfathomable generosity.

In an air of seriousness, sharingan shut like the windows of opportunity, "no more, Kanna-san," Itachi responded, in a softer tone. He had no more to give, even if he felt that warmth of generosity some time in the future.

Only a few more moments passed by, before their ears caught the harmonious warmth of voices. And in the distance, a tall silhouette of a tori gate rose from the sea of dark green. Finally they reached their destination.

Side by side Itachi and Kanna passed beneath the large tori gate, reading "Welcome to The Land of Silk". And what Itachi had explained to Kanna in his bleak tone back when they were airborne with the clay bird, now took life like a wildfire. This village really did look and breathe like a village where all information intersected.

This village she saw had been small from above, but was even more concentrated and packed full of people, then she could have guessed. Tight streets, gloomy with smoke, were lined with various produce, village memorabilia, and food stands. Alley ways were even tighter than the roads and as Itachi and Kanna passed by, she caught the repulsive odor of fish snaking its way down and probably up into home windows.

They passed little pockets of places where people sat behind screened boxes smoking and drinking with dim orange lights hovering overhead like drunken suns. Strange people there were. Many pot-bellied with drink, clothes askew from dumpster play with prostitutes, and just grimy all together. Sadly the grime didn't differentiate gender. Because the women were just as painful to the eye as the men.

"So this is where _e coli _comes from," said Kanna, pressing closer to Itachi as to avoid brushing against a gray eyed, plucked goose, raw on a sullen cart counter.

He felt her shoulder press against his own, "this place has seen more sanitary days," he agreed. After a moment or two, Kanna took her shoulder back and Itachi had to turn his attention elsewhere.

She assumed Itachi was keen on where they exactly were going. Cause he'd turn down roads and alley so sudden, there was no inkling of a hesitant thought in his head. And soon the village's voice receded like the dirty rain water spewing from the gutters over head. They were following down a narrow, _clean_, cedar fenced road that seemed to be going uphill.

"Where is this ANBU holding tank?" inquired Kanna, while speeding up a bit more cause Itachi was moving a bit faster, though it didn't appear so with his calm stride.

"In a place you would least expect hostility…you've thought similar," Itachi hinted.

Kanna shook her head, "you realize what you say, right? Because sometimes it seems you purposely speak riddles to confuse me," she held back the need to point an incriminating finger his way.

With another faint smirk, Itachi withheld a shrug, "Sadly for you Kanna-san, I don't purposely go out of my way to confuse you …" for the first time since their walk started, Itachi turned his head completely towards Kanna. She could see the glimmer of sharingan ease over the high Akatsuki collar, "ever consider it just happens naturally…you being confused?"

Kanna stopped in mid-step and there was a pause as she contemplated, "…you're mean," she responded, while frowning.

At some point their journey shifted, for their words to each other weren't as harsh as before. They were casually conversing. Kanna preferred this, cause she had forgotten why in the first place she had been so tense.

The earth seemed to grow steeper the farther they walked. Kanna was quiet now, attempting to sift through Itachi's riddle. But soon enough a long ascending row of cement stairs answered her question. "A shrine?" she muttered, brown eyes innocently gawking upward.

Itachi paused before taking the first stair, "like I said, a place you would lead expect hostility." And up the stairs he went, followed by Kanna who was keeping true to his right side.

Seemingly strict as ever, actually Itachi felt this mission had to be the only one where he felt at ease. Not because it was simple, cause he wasn't ignorant enough to underestimate anything. But somehow Kanna's company relieved him of tension, unlike that of Deidara's nonsense or Kisame's unquenchable blood thirst. "…," he glanced out to his right briefly.

Their pace eased now as the tops of the steps came into view. Kanna felt nervous, dry mouthed, and as if her heart would beat against her rib cage any moment now. The shrine soon made itself known. It sat on a ground of neat stones, clean of leaves, and at first glance, vacant.

"Itachi-san…" Kanna felt a drawback. The closer they approached the shrine, the more visible two figures were atop the shingle roof. They were ANBU, perched like gargoyle.

But Itachi's evil did not recede. Kanna thought her and Itachi would be more devious. Perhaps take concealment at a vantage point, surveillance for a while, then make a move. However, Itachi was having them walk right up to the doors. The girl couldn't deny the feel of wanting to back up.

Now the two ANBU stirred. Leant back on their heels, both figures rose to a full stance in the way of the moons light. "Black cloaks," muttered one to the other, "…red clouds, its--!"

"…," Itachi had slowly raised his hand, to point between the two ANBU. Kanna watched in disbelief as Itachi gave this Grim Reaper's death point, and the two ANBU flopped from the rooftops like pigeons who succumbed to a contagious disease simultaneously.

Across the vacant front of the shrine, to the steps, Kanna paused to look over one of the ANBU carefully. She laid there motionless and Kanna couldn't help but feel pity towards her, "did you…?"

Back turned to Kanna as he removed a kerosene lamp from a hook, Itachi glanced back, "Genjutsu, Kanna-san," he responded, in that monotone voice of his. "And never mind them, you shouldn't worry about the causalities…because they wouldn't have given you mercy."

Kanna nodded her head grimly, understanding how true that statement was. Fingers easing about a gear on the lamp, Itachi turned up the flame and parted the shrine doors. All both of them saw was a dark vacant room, the natural wooden floors covered by dusty tatami mats. While he searched the walls for any levers, Kanna walked along the tatami mats. Her sandals were making a light clacking sound, but loud enough to have Itachi turn around and shoot her a strict stare.

"Stop making needless noise," he warned.

Kanna looked down at her left foot apologetically, "sorry…" And just when she put her foot down, Kanna heard a peculiar note. "Itachi-san," she whispered, loud enough to catch his attention, "its hollow over here."

She had discovered the trapped door he knew was somewhere in this room. Itachi pulled up the tatami mat to reveal a door and latch. "What?" he inquired coldly, but hadn't really meant to. Kanna was staring to him oddly.

Still eyeing Itachi as he pulled the door open, a grin spread its way across Kanna's baby face, "so much for making needless noise, huh?" She used a good-humored tone.

"…," red eyes observing Kanna's features softly for a moment, he then turned away and decided to go first.

A narrow stairwell they decent. Held up in his right hand, Itachi kept the lamp. It's light though, didn't extend anymore than five feet ahead of them. So Itachi was cautious of traps. "Itachi-san," came Kanna's voice, wafting warmly across his ear.

"Yes?"

"How did you know about the shrine, the trapped door, and how many ANBU were stationed out in front? I mean we only had first glance and the files didn't give us much information on their setup…" Kanna had her voice hushed, not wanting to catch attention or have Itachi scold her for talking too much.

This tunnel seemed to keep going on and on. "At one point, I was captain of an ANBU squad back in Konoha…" answered Itachi, once again flickering a emotionless glance to her.

"Oh…" He continued to impress her.

And when Itachi felt like they were doing too much talking, Kanna had went silent.

Off in the distance, water dripped, and a breeze was howling down the tunnel. Kanna kept more behind Itachi now, just a step after his so Itachi's cloaked stature could block the wind. And suddenly -- he stopped -- Kanna had bumped into him but Itachi went unmoved.

"What is it?" she questioned in her hushed voice, while peeking over his shoulder.

Itachi held up the kerosene lamp, illuminating two dark passage ways. "Twenty minutes…"

"Twenty minutes?" she repeated.

"…go right," Itachi suddenly ordered, in a calm tone of voice. Just as soon as he was about to take on the left tunnel, he felt himself being held back by his right cloak sleeve. "Kanna-san?"

"No!" she whispered harshly. The lamp in Itachi's hand lit up her frightened expression, beckoning him to stay. "I don't want to be by myself in here." She witnessed sharingan firm their red stare. They had no time to trudge both tunnels one at a time. So slowly Kanna eased her grip from his sleeve and nodded with shame in herself, "…okay -- but give me a kunai!" Her harsh whispering, hissed in the hollowness.

He raised an incredulous eyebrow, "and why didn't it dawn on you, to bring your own?" Nearly hissing back at her, Itachi slipped his hand into his Akatsuki cloak and removed a kunai from it's holster.

"Because…" with a nod of thanks to Itachi, Kanna took the blade, "a certain someone told me this mission wouldn't call for physical exertion."

And to Itachi's surprise, Kanna flicked the tip of his sugegasa with her index finger, almost as if she were attempting to play with him. "…," he kept silent.

She hoped he hadn't been insulted by that, but she was merely joking. "So…" Kanna cleared her throat, "where do we meet? That's if I don't screw this up."

Yes, what if she did screw this up? Itachi was aware on how great a chance there was that she'd slip up and he'd probably have to come to her rescue. That was sad.

"I'll come and get you, but if there is need for you to retreat…" he gestured with the lamp, "go back up to the shrine and wait for me."

And with that Itachi slowly turned about, walked forward, and was swallowed up by the darkness. Kanna felt a sadness envelope her just then. She was all alone and there was a great chance she'd screw this up. "Okay…" she exhaled, before trudging down the right tunnel.

Down the dark, cold tunnel, Kanna guided herself by touch alone. It was just that dark. Hands sliding along the clammy stone walls, she kept a taut jaw, so that the chattering of her teeth didn't interfere with her intent hearing. She hoped to not pick up the dangerous sound of footsteps coming her way, or whispering voices.

'This isn't just for me…I'm doing this for my brother, I'm doing this for his safety, I'm doing this because…' Kanna saw a light up ahead, she found herself in more of a hurry now. 'I'm doing this because no one thinks I can, and I'll prove them flat wrong!' Though, she felt Itachi had some faith in her...

Sandals clacking on the stone, the bright light at first blinded her. But once her eyes focused, Kanna had to side step and fall against a wall, or else be seen by an ANBU and chunin conversing in front of a metal plated door. "Huh!" Kanna slapped her free hand over her mouth, almost afraid her breathing alone could catch their attention. 'If Itachi-san knows this place so well, why did he send me here?!' Was it the exact place they were keeping Tatsuya?

Concealed behind a wall, she pressed her back against it and listened to the conversing men.

"So much trouble, I swear war is imminent."

"Bah," spat the ANBU, "don't say such Taromaru-san, Sound has gone quiet these recent days."

"Of course!" told back the chunin named Taromaru, "Its because Orochimaru finally got his pasty white hands on Sas--?" His head turned to look down the desolate hall.

Kanna pressed herself more flat against the wall.

"..what is it?" questioned the ANBU, in a slightly curious tone.

"Nah, nothing…" he gave one last look down the hall before staring to the masked man in front of him. "Just hungry…hey, you want anything Nobu-san?" Now the chunin took a few steps down the hall, obviously on his way out for the moment.

"Hey!" retorted the ANBU. "You know when I'm in this mask, you're not supposed to address me by my real name!"

Taromaru grinned, "yeah, yeah just because you made ANBU and I didn't." Fully turning around, he walked down the hall and called back, "I'll get us some coffee."

But he wouldn't be bringing that coffee back, well at least not in the hour. Cause with the kunai tight in her fists, the handle pointed downward where the blade should have been, Kanna bashed the unsuspecting chunin over the head. He had fallen so suddenly like a sack of potato, Kanna nearly shouted in surprise.

"Hey Taromaru-san!" called the ANBU, while leaning a bit forward to see down the hall. "Everything all right down there?"

Listening for a reply, it took a few seconds but his partner responded- "Gah…I mean -- oh yeah everything is fine. But I found something suspicious…come over here Nobu-san."

Unconscious man in arms, Kanna lumbered herself over to a closet, laid the chunin down on the floor so his head was pillowed by a mop, and then concealed herself behind the door as the ANBU passed by, complaining about using his real name once again.

Once the ANBU's form was swallowed up by the darkness, Kanna pushed open the closet and hurried down the hall where that metal plated door was. Unlike the rest of this place, lights burned in the ceiling, giving Kanna a full view of her surroundings. She approached the plated door, stood on the tips of her toes, and peered in through the barred peep window.

"Why, who might you be?" questioned an airy voice, which Kanna believed belonged to Tatsuya.

Brown eyes straining in the darkness, she picked up some movement in the dark room. "That's not important, but I'm here to get you out…" Kanna took hold of the heavy door knob. And to her horror, she realized it wasn't a outside locked door, with a simple latch on the outside. "Wh-where is the key?" Kanna hurriedly asked.

"You don't have it?" Tatsuya took hold of the bars, caging her window.

"Well obviously no!" replied Kanna, now beginning to feel anxious as the time passed by and she knew the ANBU guard would be coming back.

Tatsuya's green sights wandered over Kanna's face, "are you with Akatsuki?"

"Not officially…yet -- but where is the key?" her voice became more urgent.

"The guard -- the ANBU guard has it Miss," Tatsuya responded. "And forgive me, but you don't seem like the type of girl to be acquainted with Akatsuki. And least of all to be saving me! Where is Deidara-san or Itachi-san?"

Kanna felt a bead of sweat roll down her temple, 'the key is with the guard…!' And here she thought this plan was full proof. "Itachi-san is with me, but he's not here right now," just for the hell of it, Kanna pulled at the door knob.

"Miss, that isn't going to work," came Tatsuya's sweet voice again.

At such a moment, her peculiar voice was bothering Kanna. Forehead to the cold steel, Kanna started to think in a hurry. But all that kept coming up was blanks and the desire to have Itachi's cool demeanor by her right now. He always had an answer for everything it seemed.

"_Hey_!"

Wide-eyed, Kanna caught sight of the lone ANBU, standing at the end of the hallway pointing at her. "Civilian girl what are you doing down here?" he questioned strictly.

A civilian? "Oh…" Kanna looked down at her tattered yukata and sandal, it was so obvious. "Heh," she snickered, closed her eyes, and shook her head doubtfully, "I got lost…I guess."

After a moment of looking her over though, the ANBU took back his words, "no civilian could have wandered this far, and right up to the holding tank…" wearily, he stepped forward and removed a kunai.

Tatsuya's green eyes pierced through the darkness. She stared to the girl who was suppose to rescue her, "what are you waiting for? Kill him and take the keys Miss!"

Kanna suddenly slammed her hand onto the steel, "would you be patient!" she snarled. Tatsuya receded from the barred window a bit, "I'm thinking…" Killing was easier said than done, well at least for Kanna.

"Say who you are! I can only expect you're apart of Akatsuki, if you're here to free that prostitute," the ANBU referred to Tatsuya.

Every step brought the ANBU and his kunai closer to Kanna, closer to having this mission fail. She didn't stare to him, but bore her brown eyes, narrowed with disappointment, into the steel door. 'No more chances…I said I would do this,' her fist tightened up, as her head wretched to the side to stare the ANBU head on, 'this has to be done!'

The girl's sudden stare had the ANBU flinch. He didn't know who this was, she didn't fit any of the profiles of the Akatsuki. "Ma'am, I'm going to ask you nicely…" kunai out, he kept it drawn at his side, "step away from the cell."

Kanna was so anxious, she felt her insides shuddering. "No…" the young woman said in response, "but I'm going to ask you something just as nicely…" Kanna eyed the ANBU, and she was sure he was eyeing her through the darkness of his mask eye holes. "Hand me the keys, then leave."

His footsteps were slow and careful, "no, those are not my orders. Now step away slowly, or I'll have no choice but to engage you in battle," he warned.

Kanna swallowed hard, one hand behind her back, but that stare glued onto the man. "I was about to tell you something similar," she'd rather not engage in battle, for her sake.

Both were motionless…

With the sound of padding feet and the whoosh of speed, the ANBU went forward and slashed at Kanna vertically. He had only slashed air though, since Kanna had dodged and shoved her shoulder into the wall. ANBU veering around, Kanna saw his fist was loose, holding shuriken. Ninjutsu and taijutsu had always been her strong points, but what about now?

"Ah-" diving out of the way, she just missed the spray of shuriken that now dug in the wall. Kanna pushed herself to get up, but wasn't quick enough. Her opponent had came in front of her as she knelt on one knee. Kanna gave a quick glance up in surprise at his speed.

"Miss!" shouted Tatsuya.

A loud clang sounded off, when the ANBU and Itachi's kunai, handled by Kanna, met head on. The broad sides of their blades ground against one another. The ANBU pushed his strength down, while Kanna was just trying to stand up.

And just then, the ANBU found his world upside down. In one swift sweep, Kanna's right leg took his feet out from under him, having him crash onto his back. Soon after he felt hands pulling at his pockets where the keys hung. He swatted Kanna's seeking fingers, then back handed her with his left hand clad with that dirty white armor.

With a severe sting to her cheek, she stumbled back into a stand and vase. Her back cracked the wooden stand, the vase shattered on the floor, and the dried flowers crumbled into dust. "Huh…huh," Kanna panted in anxiety. The ANBU stood, rubbing his back.

"Who are you!?" he shouted.

It seemed he didn't enjoy hitting a woman, cause for an ANBU he should have been more ravenous with his attacks. Kanna once again pushed herself up, wiping away a rivulet of blood, and felt the slit heal. "Give me those keys!" she demanded.

Upset with this girl's stubborness, he was about to perform a ninjutsu to end this. But was caught off guard when she just then appeared to his right. "You're quicker than you look," he told, while clashing their kunai together.

In a fighting stance, she kept arms length between them. This battle seemed to have morphed into a knife fight, as both stepped forward and gave single slashes at the others vital spots. The ANBU was too weary, not knowing who she was, to try anything more and Kanna felt she was unable to do anymore than this.

"I don't want to kill you!" Kanna shouted at him, before lodging her arm back and forcing it out to stab forward. Her move was so quick, if he hadn't jumped back in the last second, she would have stuck him like a wild pig.

Their footing, was very precise. Both Kanna and the ANBU were going to probably pace a circle in the middle of this hall.

"Ha--!" He made a quick, yet painfully precise slash at her. A large gash was ripe on Kanna's shoulder. She flinched, but didn't look to the bleeding wound. However, the ANBU did and was astounded to see the deep cut heal over. "The hell are you? Not even a medic can do that without hand signs…"

As soon as Kanna put her guard down to say something, he lunged forward and knocked the kunai out of her hand. But the time it took the blade to skitter across the floor, Kanna clasped onto the ANBU's weapon bearing hand, raised a hammered fist, and slammed it down in the middle of his taut bicep and forearm. Both the receiver and giver, heard a sickly crack.

In all her nervousness, Kanna had been able to break the ANBU's arm, clean in half. Startled with pain, the ANBU hadn't grasped a counterattack, so was wide open to her assault. With a combo of punches, ranging from right jabs, left jabs, and a painfully tight uppercut, Kanna was pummeling the ANBU to back up against a wall.

"Argh!" he growled, feeling his mask crack and tumble in pieces to the floor.

Kanna felt like she was in some floating world, cause she didn't feel the pain of his hard cheek bones, pressing into her knuckles. "I'm sorry-" she told with grit teeth, before stretching her left hand across her chest, and back handing him across the cheek with a jaw shattering slap.

With the man stumbling silly, almost drunk from all the head trauma, Kanna stepped back and heard a sizzling. "…it's a-" unable to finish her sentence, the exploding tag that had been stuck to the front of her yukata, exploded.

Tatsuya screamed in her cell, when everything shook and pieces of the ceiling fell down. ANBU wearily leaning against the wall, teeth grit with blood streaming between the cracks, he stared into the cloud of smoke, dust, and rubble. Surely he'd alert backup now. There could be other Akatsuki wandering about.

"That girl…who…who was she?" he panted.

Tatsuya wished she could have answered while peeping through her barred window.

And as the air cleansed, someone was suddenly gasping for life. And it wasn't Kanna. She was on her backside, sitting amongst plaster and watching as the ANBU's feet leave the ground. From her cell, Tatsuya thought the ANBU was levitating. But he was kicking too much, squirming, and tearing with his only operating arm at his neck too much to be in a meditative state.

Where that wooden stand was broken and vase shattered, what should have been a pile of dried flower, was instead a thorny bundle of vine and red buds. The bundle was alive, having it's slithering tendrils ascend the ten foot wall and coil along the ceiling. Soon it made sense why the ANBU was struggling in mid-air. The vines hung themselves down, knotted around his throat, and created a green, thorny noose.

_Botanical Gallows_…

Kanna sat, thankful she pulled the exploding tag in time and the blast had merely blown her back. Still trying to catch her breath, right in front of her hanging, was the ANBU. The knuckles of his hand were white, trying to lessen the grip of the noose. Mask completely broken and on the floor, Kanna saw his frightful face, gaping mouth, and as soon as his eyes went blood shot from lack of oxygen bursting the vessels, Kanna had to look away.

"I'm sorry…" she muttered again, putting her hands on her bent up knees and allowing her head to droop down in rest.

When he had stopped kicking, Kanna went over, cut the vine, and eased him onto the floor. She searched his pockets and soon found the keys.

"Well my goodness, what took you so long little girl?" questioned Tatsuya.

"…," Kanna said nothing as she unlocked the door and opened it.

Tatsuya revealed herself now in the light, dimmed by the smoke still floating about from the explosion. She was a tall, middle-aged woman, olive skinned, with dark brown hair that appeared to have been put up extremely lovely before the ANBU caught her. Little hair ornaments of jade, were shaped like desirable insects and poked in and out of her messy bun. And though she had a lovely enough face, Kanna was taken aback by the kimono she was wearing. For it was the loveliest Kanna had ever seen, she had never wore anything so fine -- an orange silk with silver waterfalls pouring from the knee into a slate-blue ocean. The waterfalls were split by brown cliffs, with knotted driftwood at the base embroidered in lacquered threads.

The woman stared, "I didn't think you were a kunoichi at first, but I suppose that noose was a ninjutsu, right?"

Kanna didn't feel like talking much right now, "well…we're suppose to wait here for Itachi-san, but with that exploding tag and all, more ANBU will show up." And she knew she couldn't take on anymore. So Kanna took the initiative and started out with Tatsuya down the dark hall.

Somehow the success so far had yet to sink in. All Kanna could think about, was how strange it was to be so helpless one minute, then so barbaric another.

"You have yet to tell me your name," Tatsuya interrupted Kanna's train of thought.

"Its Kanna. Haru Kanna," she finally replied, not catching eye contact with the other woman.

Tatsuya raised her pencil drawn eyebrows, "oh my, Haru." And like everyone else who was acquainted with that clan name, thought the clan to have been extinct down to its last child.

Very little more was spoken between the women afterwards. They withdrew from the dark tunnel, ascent the steep stairwell, and came up in the shrine room. Kanna found herself looking for Itachi. She had expected him to be through.

"I thought you said Itachi-san was with you," said Tatsuya, lowering the tatami mat over the trap door and ceremoniously easing herself down on the floor. "But he's nowhere in sight."

Kanna once again felt anxious. If she had stumbled upon the mission's main purpose, what was taking Itachi so long? Had he came upon a dead end down that tunnel, or something of ill-conceived thought?

"He should be here by now…I don't understand," said Kanna, sliding the shrine doors open. All her eyes met, was the mist front yard of the shrine, vacant just like before. "I hope he didn't…"

Tatsuya put her hands into a calm praying position, but eyed Kanna as she began to pace. "You hope he didn't…what?" she inquired curiously.

Pacing the front door at least a dozen times more, Kanna came to a sudden halt hearing Tatsuya's question, "I hope nothing foul has befallen him," she finished, firmly, as if there was no shame in being worried for Itachi's life.

"Well, you're definitely the first to worry about him," told back the older woman, "Itachi-san isn't very popular, least of all to young, impressionable girls such as yourself."

Kanna's brown eyes narrowed suspiciously, "_who_ are you?"

Tatsuya gave a perfect crescent smile. "My name is Sumire Tatsuya, I am failed Geisha turned prostitute, and information gatherer for the organization of Akatsuki," she opened one eye, "and you're Haru Kanna. In all respect, your performance back there was rather shakey, for even a pending member."

How could she disagree with that? "it's a long story…" So Kanna only briefly enlightened Tatsuya of her journey so far with Akatsuki and why she was even in the grasp of the Red Dawn in the first place. It surely wasn't by complete choice.

Tatsuya seemed clean enough, so Kanna sat near her. "So you're a …prost-"

"_Prostitute_," smiled Tatsuya, as if her career was an honor. "Why so surprised?"

For one, Tatsuya was beautiful. And two, being a prostitute was something Kanna thought of as being foul, dirty, and cheap. In some way she didn't even want Tatsuya touching her, though that sounded cruel, it was true. "Why…why do you accept such a line of work and even help an organization as foul as Akatsuki?" questioned Kanna, utterly confused on Tatsuya's sense, but really wanting to know her reason.

A harsh wind pushed against the quiet shrine. Were there no ANBU?

Tatsuya had fallen silent for the moment, before taking her long bony fingers and tracing her protruding collar bone beneath the folds of her fine kimono. "I could never make enough money selling myself, to buy this extravagant kimono," she pointed out. "Without fine clothes, you don't get the men with fine wallets. So with my customers naturally enjoying to talk to me, I merely give the free information I get, to Rei-sama for a costly price," this all made perfect sense to her.

So Tatsuya's work as a prostitute, tied in nicely with being a agent for Akatsuki. Kanna hadn't even slept with one man her entire life and here Tatsuya was, a prostitute who slept with many men, and would with many more, for information? "I have no skill as a shinobi. Though, I do know quite a few!" she chortled. "I know a few _very_ well."

Still repulsed, Kanna pressed on, "and is that the only reason? Just for a little extra money?"

With a hand to her heart, Tatsuya shook her head as she sat on the tatami mats. "Gracious no. I am not a greedy person Kanna-san."

"Then…why?"

"And why are you so curious little girl?" Tatsuya leant forward, so she could see Kanna's face a bit more clearly. "Is it because you wish to put your looks to better use?"

"NO!" Kanna shouted back, cheeks puffed out a strawberry pink.

The older woman laughed while wafting a long, delicate hand at the kunoichi. "Calm yourself. Here, this is the real reason I do what I do…" she dislodged a locket from her kimono, its delicate golden chain laced about her fingers.

Kanna admired the craftwork for a moment and soon Tatsuya opened the locket to reveal a moon faced little girl. "Is she yours?" Kanna could assume safely yes, once Tatsuya nodded her head.

"I gave birth to her a year after my geisha career went up in smoke…" she told, in a somber voice. "With no real skills to support my daughter I did what was necessary…for her happiness." Bony digits patted the locket with warm motherly affection. Affection Kanna missed so dearly. "Believe me Kanna-san, when you love someone so dearly, you'd climb any mountain to get to them, swim any ocean, and defy any boundary."

"…," Kanna's expression took a sorrowful shade; how nostalgic the meaning of Tatsuya's words.

"Happiness is when the one you love is happy. And don't believe those who say happiness isn't something containable, because they're lying," closing the locket, she tucked it beneath the fine folds of her kimono, "my Sasami-chan, she is my happiness. And I'd do anything -- anyone for her!"

Her last line was meant to amuse Kanna, and it did. Now instead of feeling disgust, cause she was so near a prostitute, Kanna now had a respect for Tatsuya and her way of life.

Not long after, the tatami mat which camouflaged the trap door, was flipped up and Itachi finally returned. Kanna had hurried to her feet, "what took you so long?" she demanded.

Itachi was covered in blood. Splotches across his face, hands, and even his feet. He eased sharingan up and down Kanna, "I hadn't expected you to be done so early…" he told in all honesty.

A smile creased Kanna's face at his words.

Itachi, Kanna, and Tatsuya walked out of the shrine to look upward at the sky where Deidara circled like a hungry vulture. All three of them cleared the shrine grounds and found a desolate landing pad, for the clay bird.

Once it landed, they boarded quickly and were airborne once again. Kanna saw that Deidara knew Tatsuya quite well, cause he immediately greeted her with a grin and a wink. Kanna felt a flicker of anger witnessing that. Either she was jealous that Deidara was giving some other woman attention, or else she was upset that his attention was nothing rare.

Itachi hadn't said much since the mission was considered a success by Deidara. Instead he sat parallel to Kanna, while she looked out to the side in deep thought.

"Thank you," came that airy tone of Tatsuya's voice.

"What…?" inquired Kanna, snapping out of her zone-out.

"Thank you for saving me, it means nothing to Deidara-san and Itachi-san, but I saw what a struggle you were having with that ANBU," Tatsuya knelt on her knees, hands clasped together, and her head bent gracefully down like a swan.

Nodding her head in response to Tatsuya's thanks, Kanna then felt unsure of her next question. First she had to make sure no one else was listening, "Tatsuya-san," the girl finally said.

"Hmm?"

"Did you…well I mean…uhh…" Kanna's expression screwed up like she had sucked on a lemon. She was unable to word her question right, so she wouldn't sound like a nosey ninny.

Tatsuya giggled, "did I what, come now Miss."

With a deep inhale, Kanna calmly questioned- "since your specialty is being a prostitute--"

"Oh I wouldn't call it a speciality!" chortled Tatsuya, proudly.

Kanna went red in the face, then hurriedly put her index finger to her lip and blew, so Tatsuya could lower her voice. "Well…have you slept with any of them? The men of Akatsuki, I mean."

Tatsuya had gone quiet. Not in alarm at Kanna's question for being absurd, but for her asking so sincerely. "Kanna-san, the men of Akatsuki are far too busy in their work," but she soon saw with Kanna's determined brown eyes, staring her down, that what she was saying wasn't the right answer. "No… I haven't. But if one of them asked, I'd be honored to do so."

Somehow, Kanna felt a weight lift from her shoulders. "Oh okay," she replied softly.

As Deidara began to say something to Itachi about where they were headed first, Tatsuya leant in on Kanna, cupped the side of her own mouth and whispered slyly to the grass kunoichi. "_Psst_, why do you ask? Do you have your eye on one of them --!"

"HOW ABSURD!" Kanna shouted.

Simultaneously, Itachi and Deidara snapped their necks around to stare at a flustered Kanna.

* * *

a/n: Its here, chapter 15! Ha-zah! Omfg this one took me so long, because I was so determined to make it good enough for everyone to read. Well it came out "all right" i believe. Could have done better, but that would have taken more time and I wanted it out on Itachi's birthday. Er...it was late anyway, but by one day! 

Anyway, thank you to everyone who reviews and reads. You're all awesome. I can't wait to hit the 100th review. Cause this is my first fanfiction and I didn't think it would even come close to doing as good as it has. I'm very happy to have such awesome readers and reviewers. Some of you were even nice enough to read my profile, find my myspace link, and add me as a friend! And some of you actually send your reviews there. Lol

Now be truthful on your reviews, tell me if something raises your eyebrow in the wrong way -- I want to know, so I can make this story better in anyway I can! Oh and before I go -- SUMMER VACATION STARTS 6/15 for me, meaning more time to sit in front of the computer and rot! rofl

-connie


	16. Susanoo lent me his parasol

"_I admire the way you shine…"_

Both men had stared questionably to Kanna, after she had retorted an uncalled for _absurd_. Neither of them held the faintest idea what her and Tatsuya were on about, but figured it was enough to have Kanna cherry red and fanning herself as if she had just accidentally fell into a male occupied onsen.

"We will proceed northwest then while you and Kanna-san tread together _unaccompanied_, back to the manor. Is that correct, hmm?" Deidara continued his conversation with Itachi as the women conversed. The clay master was of course seated at the base of the bird's neck; the pilot's seat. And as he guided his masterpiece along the breeze, he had a new companion of the alcoholic beverage type placed on his lap.

"Correct," tonelessly replied Itachi, while eyeing the sake jug with silent disgrace and paying very little attention to the emphasis put on him traveling with Kanna alone.

"Hmm," Deidara stifled a chuckle at Itachi for always being cool as a cucumber no matter the circumstances. "Curious," he cooed, before wiping a rivulet of liquor from his bottom lip.

"…," Itachi then peered up with eyes hollowed of emotion. What was curious?

Once Itachi gave Deidara some acknowledgement that he was listening, the clay master continued in a sly manner while rubbing the jug of rice wine like a magic lamp. "Curious that you are so agreeable to have her company now, hmm. Why, one may possibly believe you…_enjoy_ it, hmm?" The chuckle he saved from his last amusement at Itachi, now flared with a foolishly bold smirk.

In the calm waft of the wind, Itachi's right hand bearing the ring of the Vermillion Bird, gave a twitch of aggravation; Deidara being an itch, "Deidara-san," sharingan became keen once Itachi's head raised up from his resting hunch, "do not make the mistake of uttering any of your suspicious stupidity…around me." In the glimmer of the fading moonlight, Deidara's visible blue eye went aglow with the sharp glint of a kunai's point, just protruding from Itachi's sleeve. "You know better."

Now Itachi didn't threaten every passerby or ignorant person. But Deidara had been disrespecting him since he and Kisame landed at the manor. Itachi was also aware Deidara had more than just one personal grudge against him. Now the clay master was merely forming another one-sided dispute over his foolish schoolboy infatuation with Kanna.

The bird gave a violent sway as Deidara took a long swig of sake while inwardly snickering. His mind was a little fuzzy at the moment, perhaps too fuzzy to realize his drink just had his masterpiece swoop so deep out of the sky, they skimmed the tips of evergreens.

"Not to be a bother or unappreciative for you all saving me, but excuse me Deidara-san?" Tatsuya called over her shoulder worriedly, "I want to get to the dead drop in one piece. So please save your sake for later?"

He scoffed coldly to Tatsuya, who clung onto Kanna so she'd stay onboard, "doesn't matter to your customers, the only significant fraction of you is the lower half, hmm!"

Both Tatsuya and Kanna winced at his tongues lashing; so nasty. But Tatsuya said nothing in return to defend herself, all she did was hang on as the clay bird made a landing ten miles out from the land of silk.

Itachi and Kanna dismounted, both probably relived to be on the ground whole.

"The hell?" Deidara suddenly barked, with a snarl, "I bought that with my own earning, hmm!"

"Get going," coldly ordered Itachi, after swiping the jug of rice wine from Deidara effortlessly and holding it out of his reach.

Kanna surveyed from a few feet back as the bird leapt up to take flight. She expected Deidara was upset with her for snubbing him a few hours back. But she hadn't imagined he'd be so raw…Though she had no idea what him and Itachi were speaking of together.

"You'll surely have a safe trip Kanna-san!" Deidara called from the sky, sardonically. "For you're in the company of _thee _Uchiha Itachi, hmm!" Somehow Kanna didn't think that was meant to be a complement to Itachi or words of reassurance for her.

Clay bird airborne, Tatsuya peeked over the side to give a rigid wave goodbye, since she was too afraid to lessen her grip on the sculpture and fall off.

And like a real seagull…or crow -- whatever it was, it took to the sky gracefully. Kanna watched it's white form alter into a black silhouette, shrinking and shrinking in the distance till nothing was left but a formless little speck of nothing.

Besides the lonely whoosh of a breeze that uplifted Kanna's black hair and stirred Itachi's cloak, there was nothing but silence.

Itachi had decided to send Deidara off with Tatsuya so she could be safely dropped off at her usual location, far from this village and where she would be properly paid for her services and whatever new information she had. If Kanna and himself had gone along also, it would have been nothing but a waste of time.

Once again that cold breeze wafted through the clearing encircled by trees. Itachi had his sugegasa pinched between his elegant fingers instead of on his head. The bell chimed eerily in the darkness of his mind as he pondered, 'enjoy her company…?' Right hand lending up, he combed his long digits through his dark bangs, revealing that struck through leaf hitai-ate to the clouding moon. 'Deidara's accusations… are nothing but a hateful form of childish jealousy,' Itachi was able to conclude that much, as he stared to Kanna still. However, as if he needed to hear it for himself, Itachi muttered a very faint, "ridiculous," accompanied by a huff of materialized breath.

"Kanna-san," he finally called, "come."

With him leading the way, Itachi kept from any cobblestone road or treaded path. He could envision without having to turn his head, that Kanna wasn't enjoying the fact she had to travel such unruly land with mere geta. But there was very little he could do for her except move at a more slow and steady pace.

At one point she almost broke the strap of her geta and superstitiously commented, "don't need more bad luck."

Kanna kept from complaining though, even if it was something she was very good at. She just found her mind wild with thought. "Itachi-san?"

Mid-grasses tickling his toes, dampening them with night dew, Itachi's attention focused from that to Kanna eventually. "What is it now, Kanna-san?"

His careless tone and form of words always made her feel like saying she had forgotten her question. "Were…were you really that surprised to see me?" In one piece, back in the shrine with Tatsuya, she had meant.

Itachi figured that much. But still like almost every time he was addressed or questioned, he took a moment of silence before replying, "…yes." Actually, after coming upon and taking care of the ANBU preparing their interrogation room, Itachi had traveled down the tunnel he had sent Kanna. "With the ANBU dead, Tatsuya-san's cell empty…I safely assumed you completed the assignment earlier than I expected."

Like back at the shrine, Itachi's faint surprise in her had Kanna smile out to the side.

With a long way to trek, Itachi expected there would be no resting if they wanted to reach the manor by tomorrow afternoon. But the weather begged to differ. For over the fleeting presence of the land of silk, clouds darkened, bundled together, and smothered the moon in it's sleep. Itachi smelled rain in the air, along with the pleasing fragrant scent of Kanna's hair.

Suddenly, in the company of a harsh moan of wind, "explain to me… why he wanders with such anger and deliberately disrespects you," dryly fanned Itachi's voice.

Kanna stopped in mid-step, unable to restrict this loathsome glare she shot in reflex to Itachi for bringing up an obvious taboo.

He did not flinch in reaction to her glare, but he did feel slightly uncomfortable inside. Something about Kanna's anger was …unsettling. "I do not wish to upset you Kanna-san," he added in calmly, while easing sharingan shut. "I am merely curious."

At first it appeared Kanna had something to reply in relation to his question, but she turned around and peered up wide-eyed to the sky, "this weather…how unfortunate it would be for it to rain right now." She gave a dimpled smile, " like…when things seem bad, another person responds with 'well it could be worse' and then -- BAM! They're in midst of a sudden downpour."

With a incredulous eyebrow raised, Itachi had nearly gawked at Kanna's attempt to change the subject. "Kanna-san," Itachi firmly repeated, to let her know side tracking his mind, was virtually impossible.

"What?" she responded softly, knowing her quick-to-think response did not work, so she tried to play stupid as a last resort.

"Need I repeat my question?" Face no longer framed by the concealment of his conical hat and ornaments, Kanna couldn't escape or imagine Itachi's intimidating sharingan were pointed elsewhere.

And so she gave in unwillingly, "for abundant reasons..."

Beneath the dark sky, amidst no civilization for miles, Itachi found himself so oddly curious. He wanted to know why Kouji was the way he was, what had driven him to actually detest his own blood. "Continue…" he tonelessly persisted.

"Continue? Why are you even asking me!?" she harshly questioned; aflame in midst of naked darkness.

At first Itachi glowered, not finding her attitude all too cute right now. But then again he realized that he took the initiative to prod a internal bruise. "Kanna-san, with the numerous times you've pestered and attempted to disentangle my character…" he paused, to calculably cock his head to the side, "well, either way you are in no position to withhold information from me."

Brown eyes flared at the creases, Kanna wondered if he had meant she owed him personal information, or he was using his Akatsuki authority to pry for his own amusement. "Fine," she said, in a more refined voice. "But its beyond my comprehension why you even enjoy my tedious tales."

"…," Itachi felt it was beyond his comprehension too.

Their journey now at pause, both Itachi and Kanna stared up towards the dark heavens as thunder roared overhead. Yet even with the weather's sign of a unpleasant night, Itachi could hear Kanna's nervous habit of popping her knuckles. She seemed so unwilling to talk for once, or else just didn't know how to begin.

"Before my clans near extinction… I can recall being nine, Kyuusai thirteen, and Kouji five. I'm not quite sure if other clans operate in this way, but to wear our insignia with pride, performing a jutsu is mandatory. Really it's not all that important -- overrated if you will. But to the children of my clan, it was absolutely necessary."

"Kyuusai performed the jutsu at five flawlessly, as did I. Well… the day Kouji performed it in front of our clan council, he didn't succeed at all. In fact, after countless attempts -- failure after each, I thought it pitiful. I mean -- at that age I didn't see how he could be related to Kyuusai and myself? We were just so…talented."

As Kanna spoke, Itachi realized she wouldn't even make eye contact with him. Her body mirrored the forest. And when it seemed she had ran out of knuckles to pop, Kanna began to nervously rub her hands together…

"There…there was just something about his inability to be as impressive as I and Kyuusai that angered me. Angered me to the point that …well I harassed him during studies, hurt him far more than I should have during our scheduled one-on-one training sessions…" Kanna clenched her fists and barely found the floor low enough to stare upon, "I remember clear as day, telling him that he must have been handicap, cause there could be no other excuse for his weakness!"

The lump in her throat and burn in her eyes had crept up on her so suddenly. She would not have been surprised if Itachi saw her neck taut over that regretful lump. Recalling the abuse she invoked upon Kouji for years as a small child, felt as if she were telling the tale of a witch harming the innocent.

Still gazing out into the forest- "now it is painfully obvious my bullying aided in his lack of advancing. But no matter how much I bullied him, Kouji showed me nothing but respect. He didn't seem bruised until…"

Silence.

Itachi would not interrupt Kanna. All he did was stand and make sense of Kouji's outlook on his older sister. Their dysfunctional relationship seemed nothing but the concoction of a typical spoiled prodigy wreaking tyranny on those below her. Or else, what clan proficiency wreaked on their young.

She squeezed some more words from her sore throat, "in the last seconds of the massacre, Kouji showed to be a shinobi I could never be…he was willing to die avenging Kyuusai's death. My god! He was merely ten, could barely recite the shinobi conduct without flinching cause of me, and still was so willing to throw his life away for vengeance and honor as I… as I was stricken with fear."

Kanna paused again, only to turn and look at Itachi with angry welling eyes, "I took away Kouji's honor and crushed what respect he had for me. That night he discovered when I forced him to flee with me, my cowardice and reluctance to die for my clan. That I would rather run and hide…!" Such shame she felt.

The sky quaked with another roar of thunder, giving warning that the clouds had swelled to full capacity with storm. At first the rain started in a faint pitter patter, but soon the downpour spilled upon Itachi and Kanna, nearly perfect cue. Itachi had lolled his head back to stare upward. Rain water trickled down his features, pooled at the crease of his lips, and slicked his bangs…"we will wait this storm out," he said, before placing his sugegasa back on his head and sauntering off like a weathered nomad.

Kanna figured out during the time they sought for a place to rest and hide from the rain, that she had formed some sort of trust with Itachi over the time they had been acquainted. Well by now they were a bit beyond acquaintance…but Kanna couldn't figure out a proper word for their relationship to save her life. All she knew was that she had never been able to confide in someone so simply. And it was…wonderful to confess.

Coming upon a mossy fallen tree trunk protected from the rain by a thick, leaning canopy of stray bamboo, Itachi sat himself down first. Soon after Kanna eased her backside down near him, but respectfully far enough. Compared to her, Itachi sat with impeccable posture. Spine straight, shoulders back, and hands folded on his lap in such a regal manner. Kanna stole glances to him, troubled his outlook on her might have altered.

"…," but all he did was wordlessly sit.

What a relief.

The rain soaked all. A dirt road they had avoided, but was visible through the trees, had turned into a mud slide hazed in the cold distance. Night moths pressed their heavily powdered bodies against rigid bark, fearful of a single drop of rain, much like Kanna as she now moved her feet closer to the log.

"You have nothing to say…" she shuddered from either the cold or nervousness, "now that you know why my little brother detests me?"

Itachi stirred beneath his cloak weighed down by rain water to take hold of Deidara's jug of rice wine, "you could have done far worse things Kanna-san…believe me. But regretfully, you know as well as I that he has valid reasons to despise you, even if you are all he has…"

And Instead of arguing against his reply, Kanna nodded her head and softly agreed, "yeah…I know." Staring to her hands gloomily, "no matter what I do, he never speaks a word…I've apologized hundreds of times. The fact I forbid him to practice ninjutsu, doesn't help in the slightest either."

Itachi removed the cork from the sake jug. And as if weary Deidara's stupidity could be contagious, Itachi wiped the glass rim before easing his lips onto the bottle. A warm swig trickled down his throat, promising Itachi solace in time.

Moments passed by with nothing but Kanna sitting motionless. Itachi felt unable to aid Kanna in coping with her past mistakes. However he attempted, "here," he calmly offered her the jug.

Kanna's head drew up from a slouch in surprise, "I can't," she gasped in reply, nearly glancing over her shoulder as if someone could be watching, "I'm underage, Itachi-san." Really she didn't want any bit of the sake, but didn't want to risk sounding rude.

Holding back the need to smirk at her funny response, "Kanna-san, you aided in the escape of a prisoner just hours ago, drinking sake underage should be the least of your worries."

"Oh…" well she felt foolish. Staring apprehensively to the swirling liquid in the glass jug now in her grasp, Kanna tried another excuse to decline Itachi's offer, "doesn't it taste bitter?"

"Sake," his voice trailed, while lending a gentle hand out to pinch the cork and remove it from the jug with a little suction cup sound, "is an acquired taste."

With a little more debating, Kanna wearily wiped the rim. With a firm hold of the stout handle sticking out of the jug like a dwarf arm, she tilted her head back with the mouth piece pressed to her lips.

"…?" Itachi just had to witness her reaction, cause he knew it would be entertaining.

"Ack!" And just as he predicated the seventeen-year-old coughed, nearly going cross-eyed from the sake's potent scent alone. Her nose crinkled in disgust, tongue attempting to flick the taste away -- "oh my god it tastes worse than it smells!" she hacked.

A warm grin creased Itachi's thin lips before he gave her a helpful pound on the back, which only caused her to cough and gasp more, while she waved a distracted hand at him to stop. "Believe me, you will grow accustomed to the taste…" reassured his toneless voice, as she relinquished the jug with little resistance, "perhaps grow dependent on it like I have…"

She observed him take drinks as if the bitter liquor inside the jug was nothing but plain water. Sake seemed to be a common indulgence of the Akatsuki. So the next time Itachi nudged the jug in her direction, willing to share, Kanna ignored the protest of her taste buds and joined him. She didn't really know why she decided to, perhaps she hoped it would change how dirt low she was feeling right now.

The sake jug was passed back and forth during the next hour and Kanna matched Itachi pull for pull. Time and the loosening affect of the liquor had both Itachi and Kanna caring less and less about wiping the jug's rim after the other drank off it. The tepid liquid had worked it's hard flow through their systems quickly, even for a connoisseur of sake such as Itachi. He felt a bit light-headed after the sixth swig, and the raw-edged wounds of his soul were comfortably muzzled by alcoholic beguilement. Kanna didn't seem quite so affected, but she had to be. She was a good couple of stones lighter than he, and didn't have his familiarity for the stuff.

Their conversation wasn't very excessive at first, instead short and random. Kanna donated the random complaints, while Itachi gave the short replies. From complaining it was cold, to complaining about the active civilization of mosquitoes sucking off her currently; Kanna was kind of on a nagging roll.

Until, "…Kanna-san," calmly interrupted Itachi, waiting for his round of sake patiently. He was fully aware that Kanna had skipped his turn enough times to have three others drinking with them.

"Mm?" she hummed, while in mid-chug.

With very little concern that he could offend her or not, Itachi continued coolly, "you complain far more than any woman I've ever came across...you're very strange."

Kanna took her lips back in surprise he took the time to analyze her character, "um…yeah I am," she simply agreed, before smiling so wide her teeth shone like strung pearl and her dimples could probably collect rain water themselves. "Well what else am I suppose to talk about? You're not willing to donate me a tale about yourself -- or are you? " Kanna added in, with a little sway that nearly toppled her off the log. "What am I suppose to be feeling? Because I don't feel anything…"

In that seemingly careless way, he turned to Kanna and looked her up and down. Itachi immediately took notice of her tipsy lean, rosy cheeks, and this half-lidded, aimless stare smacked across her face. "Yes, of course you don't," finally said Itachi, voice delicately inflected to suggest disbelief.

"Hey!" she retorted, catching onto his sarcasm. Kanna struck her hand out to point at Itachi as if she had caught him stealing from her.

Itachi grinned again. The sake was working wonders on her, she was finally relaxing. But now he wondered if he should pull back a tad, cause she had struck out her point so firmly, her index finger was nearly in his right eye. "Yes, Kanna-san?"

And he waited for her response. Only to be rewarded for his vigil.

_Hic!_

With this heavy exhale as if she just relieved a momentous thirst, Kanna's fingernails lightly clinked on the glass jug resting in her lap, as she groped through her fogged up mind. She wondered what Kouji was doing at this hour. "Ta-Tobi-san seems like a good hearted fool," she said, voice nearing slur.

Right away he knew her aim,"your brother is safe Kanna-san, don't worry…" he reassured firmly, before lending a hand out to recollect the jug. His goal had been to relax her, not make her stupid drunk so all she'd wake up with was illness. Itachi inwardly concluded that her temper was short enough without the throbbing company of a merciless hangover.

In all her dazed randomness right now, Kanna stared to her now empty lap with a expression of twisted puzzlement, "you confuse me, you know. And…all of this is because of you, Itachi-san."

He paused after forcing the cork back into the bottle. "I don't know what you mean…"

"Yes you do. But I'll elaborate anyway…Understand I really appreciate all the breaks you've given me. I'm so very, _very_ thankful that you don't even know half of how much I feel I owe you…" Kanna at first seemed to be rambling to Itachi. So he was about to brush her words off for mindless drunk speech. However she steadily continued, "yet I don't understand _why_."

Liquor did not cloud his mind enough to ignore what she just said. Nor could he simply hear and forget. All he did was sit, still as ever.

"Itachi-san, can you tell me the real reason why? I mean…do you… merely do this for the sake of your mission?" Kanna was looking to her hands, as if trying to see the stains of pity that perhaps Itachi had noticed.

Itachi nearly scowled, "what good will it do for you to know?" his voice issued from his chapped, pale lips, like the oncoming winter breeze itself.

Kanna looked up, puzzled why he inflected his tone to make it seem like he was offended, as if she were prying wrongly. "A lot…" she spoke back.

Itachi's stiff stature shifted beneath that cloak weighed down by rain water, "my reasoning is my own, Kanna-san." Sharingan eased shut, he hoped to end it like that. But by now he should have known Kanna didn't let things slip her grasp like water in her palms.

Her back straightened, "your reasons are why I'm still here, Itachi-san! And maybe I don't deserve to know your reasoning's, but I would like to know why because…"

Itachi noticed her voice trailed off briefly as she stared back down to the ground.

"Because…I'm not accustomed to anyone wanting to help me in anyway. Back home, in Kusagakure, no one cared about the outcome of my brother and I…to them we were nothing but weeds needing to be plucked." There was no worse feeling than loneliness or knowing whatever integrity you had was doubted. The people of Kusagakure didn't think her or Kouji were any better than their exterminated clan. "Weeds…will always be weeds," Kanna sorrowfully recited. "But..." her head drew up, "I don't believe that. Humans change, or else we'd be no better than a accepted bad habit."

The rain continued to pour down, Itachi watched as everything seemed to emanate a chilling white mist. Reluctant to speak the bare truth, Itachi sifted through his thoughts carefully like crumpled up newspaper articles in a recycle bin. And when it seemed like he might bypass and ignore her pursuit for more drunken rambling, a momentary _ting_ sounded off from his sugegasa as he shifted, uncomfortable with his current position.

"Two weeks prior to your abduction… I observed you very closely Kanna-san. On some occasions so close, I could have reached out to touch you…"

He tipped the brim of his sugegasa down with a tap of his index finger as Kanna felt a chill.

"Of course while observing you, I achieved my objective: your routine. From your early lonely rises on the weekdays, to your late lonely afternoon rises on the weekends. Every other day you took brief trips to the market place unaccompanied…purchased the same food items, selected the same gossip magazines, and did not stop to converse with the same people…" Itachi did not speak directly to Kanna, but to the forest. "You would return to the shrine before any visitors to sweep floors and unlock doors. Doors I freely walked through to watch how you would just sit and read to yourself, watch television, or write in random notebooks for hours..."

Kanna's brown eyes widened so much her lashes brushed against the skin over her sockets. "But I…didn't sense you," she whispered.

Itachi closed his eyes and shook his head slowly, "you did, but brushed it off for a flick of the wind, then simply shut your bedroom window."

What he was talking about, did add to something. Itachi was not merely rambling for the time to pass. "Somehow Kanna-san, I knew your routine with all it's simple misery, was a routine you practiced all your life," there he paused to slowly inhale, "…similarities Kanna-san, between you and I. Those are what lead me to find this puzzling sympathy; pity for you."

In her mind, Kanna recalled a eerie autumn night maybe three days away from the time of her abduction. TV guide in hand, she had tried to get Kouji to sit and watch a special three-part adventure movie with her. Of course he declined. So instead of sitting by her lonesome to watch, she hit the lights and sauntered to bed defeated again by her little brother's refusal to be around her.

Just before she was going to undress in her bedroom, something…like the tickle of an invisible hand fluffed her hair. "That was you then…" she muttered, recalling the last moments she blamed the wind for startling her.

With no word response, Itachi simply nodded his head while uncorking the sake jug, face expressionless as ever. What he said was the truth, but only half of it. Itachi failed to express his attempt to ease his own guilt, by aiding Kanna, the other with similar faults and loneliness.

A distant roar of thunder accompanied two streaks of brilliant white lightning as they cut across the sky like a chakra blade. Kanna's body flinched in reaction to the crashing sound.

And in that sudden moment she realized why when she confessed to Itachi, the truth turned to smooth flowing vanilla lace. "Similarities…," gently repeated Kanna, stare daring ascent.

With a hard swallow, noticing she was once again popping her knuckles in the tense silence, Kanna was inwardly aghast, aware of that familiar internal longing. She nearly heaved over with an intense flow of tingling nerves, via immoral thought.

Itachi was like a mysterious flame aglow in a endless chasm of sorrow. Kanna felt moth-like, finding it almost impossible to refrain the need to draw closer to his influential light and warmth of wisdom. But like a unworldly sensible moth, she knew with a fire came painful burns.

"…."

The awkward silence was torture and Itachi's hand raised up to tuck bangs behind his ears. Of course, to only fluff them back out…perhaps a nervous habit of his own?

A constant volleying of Kanna's brown eyes from her hands cupped atop her lap to his laying idle upon his knees, caught Itachi's attention. He was unaware that he exhausted Kanna's emotions, stirred the ravenous butterflies in her acidic belly. But his intuition hinted something was to come…

It had to be the confidence given by the sake, to have Kanna perform such a bold move next. The distance that she had sat from him, soon closed in as she scooted her backside along the fallen tree, to bring herself close enough that her thigh pressed against his own.

"…," Itachi found himself hushing his breath, unable to move and only stare from the corner of sharingan expecting the unexpected.

Kanna's hand ventured from her lap to have the sensual warmth of her flat palm slide along Itachi's tight, bare forearm. Even though it was a simple touch, once she eased her hand on top of his and had her thumb idly run across his knuckles, the hair on the nape of Itachi's neck stood and he skipped a breath. "Kanna-san…?" he expressed, unable to help as a digit or two of his own crept atop her hand.

She never thought herself forward, or bold enough to do this. But with augmented confidence from sake and the reassurance of their similarities, Kanna was unable to help herself and the need to feel him and all his dangerous nature. So she leant forward to Itachi, whose body turned instinctively to mirror her own with his hand in hers somewhat.

He watched Kanna almost in slow motion draw close, having her knee spread his legs apart and nudge his tightening groin. The need for air, Kanna had forgotten as she concentrated and eased his sugegasa back to reveal that blood-red stare curtained by dark locks of wet hair. Itachi observed Kanna's own features, attempting to assess her reasons.

She wasn't a girl every man would call drop-dead gorgeous at first sight. Kanna was too classy for that title, even when intoxicated. He slid a kunai-callused thumb down her cheek almost affectionately, while trying to figure out her beauty. With a heart-shaped face, dark hair, dark eyes, and pale skin…she was a natural beauty. That hint of child-like innocence in her stare enticed him so, thinking he could be the one to show her endless pleasure for the first time. And obtaining that satisfaction every man wanted…to be the first.

Kanna's weight then pressed onto him, she had taken the initiative to prop on his lap, both legs straddling. He noticed her movements were so cautious, even the warm wafts of breath that touched his face, appeared planned for his liking.

At first Itachi seemed inoperative, in some trance. Bangs webbed across his handsome iced face, he eased his neck to the side with a pop, then wrapped a sinfle arm about Kanna's curvy waist. Her body so near, instinct had drawn Itachi's free hand to comb through Kanna's hair, take firm hold of her black locks, and gently tug them back so her throat was bare and open to the elements of his desire.

Her mane was soaked, locks flowing together like textile dark waves across her shoulders and down her back. Rain drops stuck to her flesh like perfectly placed rhinestones; across her bare arms and clenching hands now kneading his shoulders. But what he next stumbled upon while looking her over, had his face feel warm even in the midst of this rain storm.

For as Kanna rubbed his shoulders, pressing her right breast against her left to form a sensual curve of cleavage unknowingly perhaps, the rain had soaked her already fading yukata to near transparency. Itachi could see her pale complexion was even more pale beneath her robes, and the black or plum bra that cupped her ample bosom could not restrict the cold from drawing up her nipples…

"Stop," he said firmly, before his head turned so the tip of Kanna's nose pressed to his sideburn .

"Wh-what?" Kanna whispered back, worry in her expressive eyes. "Did I…did I do something wrong Itachi-san?" she felt a cold sweat breaking out.

He wouldn't even look her in the eye.

"Kanna-san you've had far too much to drink…" cause back at the manor she was still ripe with anger about their first intimate encounter. "Sit back down…please."

Hands taking hold of Kanna's wrists gently, he unfastened them from his shoulders and set them neatly back on her lap. In the moment it took Kanna to sit back down beside him, Itachi had plucked a button of his collar free, needing the chill of the rain to cool his arousal.

---

The night grew too long and the girl's weariness too much. Itachi now stood away from Kanna, but at some point he started to steal quick glances back at her. Sleepily she blinked in his direction, unable to fight the needs of her exhaustion any longer. She would slump over, head bobbing this way and that, before snapping back up after a few seconds.

"…," sharingan holding a soft red glow, Itachi was unable to look away from her. And soon he was rewarded when Kanna slumped back down, but popped back up like a rubber duck having been submerged.

When she finally drooped against the leaning bamboo in sleep, Itachi's serene and apathetic nature softened for just a moment, realizing Kanna's weird disposition … could melt the hardest hearts.

---

The eye's of the storm god finally eased shut, charming with his slumber the merciless rain and thick darkness. Without hesitation beams of gray light speared through the fluttering dry leaves who still foolishly clung onto the long departed summer. But even with the storm gone, the atmosphere was still bitter enough to freeze lung.

However Kanna slept warm with her head cocked back on a bamboo bundle pillow and mouth gaped to the sky. A stream of drool flowing along her chin also said her sleep was quite enjoyable.

Suddenly -- _plop_. A rain drop that had been clinging onto a leaf desperately, finally gave in and splattered on Kanna's cheek, startling her awake with it's cold kiss.

"Mhmm?" she groaned, before her sore, blurred eyes opened to blink curiously upward. _Plop_. Another rain drop fell, plucking Kanna right on the forehead. It seemed during the night, the weight of the rain had broke a small hole in the bamboo canopy leaning over their fallen tree seat, and now like a leaky roof, it dripped.

The raindrop hit the invisible bull's-eye on Kanna's forehead once again, having her flinch. "Tch," nose crinkled, she roughly pushed herself up, a few bones popping in the slow process.

Kanna awoke to a morning forest fit for a ice queen. Even if there was no snow, the gray and white sky gave her environment a most tragic dress. While peeking about, she noticed a violent splash of black.

Upon more inspection, her fingers curled in the soft, thick cloth of another Akatsuki cloak. "When did I…?" From collar bone to the tips of her toes sitting damp in her geta, Kanna was draped in black and red clouds. At some point in the night, not during the intervals she had sprang up to flick away any real or imaginative spiders, Itachi had lent his cloak to her for a blanket.

Kanna felt thankful and guilty all at the same time. A rather new mixture of emotion.

"Itachi-san?" abruptly standing, she folded the cloak up in haste. Somehow she felt it was best to have Itachi come upon his cloak folded, than still in her possession. "Hello…? Itachi-san?"

Alone Kanna stood, still nervously trying to choose what manner to fold Itachi's cloak. At least four different techniques she used in folding it -- origami would probably been her last try if it had not been for a soggy twig cracking from behind.

"Hey, where were you just now?" Kanna questioned, after she veered about with her hands behind her back holding Itachi's folded cloak.

"Humph, good morning to you as well Kanna-san," the exact time Itachi had scheduled in his mind to set out for the manor again, had passed hours ago. The girl had just been in such a deep sleep Itachi decided to wait for her to rise than force her awake. "Nowhere particular," Itachi simply answered, calm as ever while gazing out into the damp woods.

Without his cloak, Itachi felt such exposure to the cold. His pallid purple top, was merely a cropped v-neck with fishnet stretching down his toned midriff. Arms chilled with bumps, Itachi ignored the cold and stepped out from behind some leafless shrubs. "About time you awoke," he scolded.

Kanna felt herself blush in shame. If there was one thing she was good at, it was sleeping for long hours.

About to turn around in direction to the dirt road feet away, Itachi heard Kanna call to him.

"Oh wait --!"

Coming to his right with her hands thrust forward like a waitress with a tray, Kanna gave a antsy bow presenting Itachi his neatly folded cloak. "_Arigato_, Itachi-san. But it was not necessary to tolerate the cold on my account…" she slowly alleviated her bow, "I don't succumb to sickness."

Like the bitter morning, Itachi stood before Kanna in his usual icy and regal manner. Sharingan ascent their stare from his cloak to her face. He was aware her blood trait nullified the effects of common virus and deadly disease all together. Last night though, there was no denying the chatter of her teeth.

"It's time to depart now Kanna-san..." with that simple statement, Itachi ignored Kanna returning his cloak, turned around and walked off.

---

"Some small fraction of myself, suspected the manor would not still be standing…"

"And why was that, Itachi-san?" inquired Kanna, while stepping through the black iron gate of the manor. Akatsuki cloak tightly bundled around her form, she sent a genuinely curious stare over the flared collar.

He ascent the front steps, before relieving a scoff worthy of a composed noble finding the opportune moment to tease, "Deidara's short fuse is lit by many things, one being stupidity of lower caliber than his own" he paused for a faint smirk, "…not even I believed such existed until I was introduced to Tobi."

Though what he said was rather mean, Kanna couldn't stifle the laughter at his clever joke.

Itachi parted the front doors of the manor then, allowing Kanna entrance first.

Neither of them uttered a word of last night. Itachi assumed Kanna had forgotten, which was best for the good sense that there was no more need for awkwardness between them. However after she surrendered his cloak in the front hall with another gracious thanks, Kanna turned her back to him to conceal a define frown of failure. She remembered last night clear as glass. And the humiliation that Itachi had declared her behavior last night as drunken antics, burned like poison ivy. She found it impossible now in broad daylight to admit to him then that her intentions had been true.

With Itachi a few steps behind, Kanna followed the red hall carpet which strangely reminded her of a lagged out tongue. Hall cutting into a fork, one leading towards the kitchen and the other in the direction of the living room, the swollen walls of the old manor echoed a curious sound down both…

_Thunk…thunk…thunk._

Itachi paused with strict interest as Kanna peered about like a weary doe.

"Hmm, I wonder what that is?" she said, just before she turned, slid open a set of paper-patched doors, and sauntered into the living room.

"Oh look Kouji-kun, Kanna-san is back!" hollered Tobi.

He was knelt on the floor, waving in Kanna's direction with a bitten plum.

About to give greeting, a glint of silver flew passed Kanna and Itachi's line of sight. So fast, so precise, it had been like a simple flick of a needle. Both turned their heads to see it had been a kunai, that hit dead center of a wasabi drawn bulls eye on a wall littered with shuriken and other kunai.

Adjacent to Tobi who now lazily leant his back against a coffee table, was Kouji. And in Kouji's grasp was another kunai, wound up and ready.

The atmosphere in the room suddenly went still; Kanna had discovered the origin of that sound. And instinctively, like an animal with tender sensitivity to natural disasters, Itachi calculably eased sharingan on Kanna, expecting the worst.

Truly the worst had been a understatement. Kanna's face had turned such a deep shade of red just then, it appeared all her blood flow had been redirected to her head. Nose crinkled into a snarl, eyebrows pointed down like knives, she suddenly lunged forward and swiped the kunai from Kouji's hand with a cold slap.

"Enough! What's this?!" she demanded, shoving the blade in front of Tobi.

Startled cause it looked like she had attempted to take out his last eye, Tobi's neck sustained whiplash "Well…it's a kunai Kanna-san," he replied openly, while holding his plum tight, "and if you still plan to proceed joining Akatsuki forces, you should know this by now."

His sarcasm only added fuel to the already furious fire. "Do not's insult me--!" Kanna spat, before jerking the plum from his hand and throwing it across the room. Itachi watched it splatter like a soggy tomato.

"I know what this is! But what is it doing in my little brother's possession?!" She venomously pursued with a mad shake of her head.

Once again she shoved the blade towards Tobi, forcing him to roll backward holding his hands out in front of him as if her flames were reaching towards him. "Calm yourself Kanna-san, please! Kouji-kun merely requested to practice kunai and shuriken throwing cause he was bored, so I lent him yours." On his back like a turtle, Kanna had stomped her foot forward, lunging at Tobi like an angry feline.

"Liar!" she shouted, "my brother does not speak!"

There was a sudden silence then; Tobi cleared his throat, "err…well at least not to you."

"…!" Kanna went stone faced.

In that moment Itachi recalled Kanna's confession…who was the victim this time? Kanna who wanted nothing but forgiveness from Kouji, but would never receive such? Or Kouji himself, robbed of honor and ninjutsu because of Kanna?

She felt as if she had just been slapped across the face with a vengeful wet hand. The lump in her throat began to inflate as her welling eyes drew onto the sight of her little brother, "Kou-Kouji, is…is this true?" she stuttered, near frustrated tears. "Do you…speak?"

There was a pause, everyone had gone quiet. Itachi half expected the boy who wore a mask of indifference, to give into Kanna's hurt bewilderment and speak to her finally. But …

"…," Kouji stared on with no response.

Lip quivering, Kanna was very still, as if one twitch of her finger could unleash her sorrow. 'Why not me…why not me?' she pondered resentfully.

Every muscle in Kanna's body then went taut with anger, her fingers curled up so severely one-by-one the knuckles popped. And the next thing Kanna did even had Itachi's eyes widen.

"Don't you _ever_--!" Kanna snarled, putting vice grip on Kouji's wrist to shake him like a doll, "EVER pick up another kunai again! I've gone through too much to get this far so you could live! Any foolish hope of ever being a shinobi again will get you killed like the rest of our family -- and where would I be then? DO YOU UNDERSTAND?!"

Kouji's entire body, even if he was taller than his older sister, shook around until his head was bowed down. He saw stars of all colors. Sadly, this treatment wasn't new to Kouji. But it had been a while since his onee-san unleashed such wrath on him.

Overwhelmed, tearfully Kanna shoved Kouji into the hall, "_get out_!"

"Ouf!" Kouji's back hit the wall, knocking a picture off it's hook and shattering the frame's glass. Before he scurried off down the halls, Itachi took notice of the purple ring about his wrist; a bruise. Of course it would fade, but it was ripe as a autumn plum at the moment.

She felt like no one could understand her reason for what just happened-- why she did such. But Kanna didn't care. And soon she turned to Tobi, who scuttled to his feet nervously.

"And _you_…" the young woman snarled.

With enough experience under his belt dealing with Deidara's wrath, Tobi found himself in a cold sweat. "Kanna-san, please I was just…!"

"Quiet!" she demanded, with another strict stomp.

Tobi put his hands atop his head, reflexes like those of a elderly war veteran.

Kanna closed in, "if I _ever_ find out you're encouraging him to pursue a shinobi demise," she started, pointing her kunai at his lone eye, "I'll show you just how well I know the definition of this weapon and it's capabilities!"

Tobi scurried away from the wall once Kanna drew back. And like another frightened child, he ran away in panic to leave her at a stand still, panting as if her rage had been a special technique requiring a abundance of chakra and time to recover after being unleashed.

"_Huh_…_huh_…" she swallowed mid-pant, while staring forward with empty eyes.

Just then Itachi slid his foot forward, the sound caught Kanna's attention. When her head turned about, she seemed terrified to find him still standing there, gazing to her with a inexplicable expression. Had she been in such a rage, she forgot about him?

With seconds passing, the lines of anger that furrowed Kanna's brow, snarled her nose, and narrowed her usually kind eyes, lifted their weight with realization…She had lost all composure in front of the man she'd rather impress than discourage.

He took in a breath and sighed out to the side, unable to figure out words of understanding for what he just bore witness to.

Suddenly -- "excuse me," unable to deal with the shame, Kanna knelt down to collect her weapons in haste. With all them bundled in the security of her sash, Kanna scuttled out of the living room, nearly tripping on her own feet in panic.

She left Itachi puzzled with a soft expression, staring after her…

---

Walls all too hospital white, enclosed Kino. "Tsuchikage-sama, Circe's unit have not reported back to us in weeks. I'm afraid to say they're…well…"

"Pathetically dead?" casually finished the Tsuchikage, flicking up his green eyes as he sat behind his desk. "Because of your lack in judgment, those lowlifes were assigned a mission far too great for them. Of course they're dead."

Kino bowed, his lower back could grow sore from all this apology; the Tsuchikage was never satisfied. "Please forgive me Tsuchikage-sama, I take full responsibility for the failed mission to retrieve your children."

"As you should," standing, one pale hand leant against a wall. The earth shadow now peered over his balcony to stare deeper into the caverns of the rock shinobi base, "Kouji is essential to my deal with Orochimaru. As for Kanna…humph, I care nothing for. Even if she's inherited my ominous nature, she still looks like her foolish mother."

Kino was aware the Tsuchikage had taken his job as Earth Country's ambassador quite seriously some years back when war had been struck. The abundant resources and trust of Grass had been in such dire need, he married into the head clan of Kusagakure; the Haru clan.

Kino dared to peer up to the only accessory in the Tsuchikage's office. Atop his sterilized desk, besides a unapproved mission and inked brush, was a wooden framed portrait. In the photo a dark haired woman whose heart-shaped face held such a brilliant smile her dimples looked stressed, had her arms around three children who shared her features.

"Excuse me sir, but…" he drew up from his bow, "is that the only reason you want her dead? I mean…please do not take my curiosity as rudeness, but you did spare her and your youngest son's life…after of course you bound her chakra. She's helpless sir. " And would surely not be able to stand in her father's way of taking back Kouji.

The Tsuchikage's eyes snapped onto Kino, disgusted at his lack of cruelty. "Haru Kusahime… I'm unable to forget my former wife and her selfless nature…" his gaze turned back down to the caverns and all went silent.

"…?" Kino expected more that a vague reply from the Tsuchikage. "Sarutahiko-sama, what orders do you have for me regarding the last mission I failed miserably?" even though he merely deployed Circe's unit.

In ponder, the Tsuchikage scratched at the white paint of his walls. "Kino…" he muttered, green eyes widening with idea, "it's been said if you desire something done right, do it yourself."

A chill ran up Kino's spine , "…sir?" He didn't know what the earth shadow meant at first. "Does that mean you will deploy _yourself_? There is no need Sir I can --" But Sarutahiko raised his hand, forestalling Kino.

"Silence," he demanded, while also staring Kino down for his full attention. "At least three Akatsuki are on hiatus on my lands. If we were to send sufficient forces, the victory would be of sweetest ambrosia."

Surely the four other great shinobi countries would see the significance of Iwagakure after annihilating the pests that are Akatsuki and obtaining information on their organization. On top of that, the Tsuchikage would obtain his first real goal…the retrieval of his last son and death of his only daughter.

* * *

a/n: this chapter I'm not all too proud of, the words weren't coming to me for some odd reason and Itachi's character was just a little...erm, I don't know . Anyway, I know its short. The reason is because the next chapter will contain the full on nosebleed and I wanted to start it out on a fresh chapter. Also, I am happy to say this fanfiction is ALMOST over! Ha-zah! I only see this story going to chapter 20. 

I'm debating on if I should make a 2nd arc of this story. Of course that depends on if people want to read it. The hits have decreased a bit, as have the reviews. I'm not sure why, but hey interest can wane! XD It happens.

So of course I hope you liked the read and please review -- I don't bite people! rofl And I do like when the same people send a review for each chapter. Lol I meet friends that way and the review count goes up.

Also, if you think I should continue this story with a second arc, please do tell -- thank you!

-connie

xoxox

p.s. i encourage others to post more Itachi / OC fics! Lol I can't get enough of the well written ones.


	17. love like winter

"_I met my love before I was born. She wanted love - I taste of blood. She bit my lip & drank my war from years before…" -afi (Decemberunderground)_

Nothing was going to change. No matter how long he stood.

Itachi was motionless as a mountain; sharingan with their stare near demonic element, locked on the closed doors of Kanna's bedroom. By now he had abandoned the count of minutes between his arrival at her door and now. Surely though sometime had passed since his knees felt buckled, almost rusty from their inoperative wait.

Merely blinking now, the intense cold of the night weather outside had the aged manor's wooden frame brittle like an elderly man. It creaked and groaned as it leaned, uncomfortable while icicles formed along the roof edges like stalactite. Itachi's subtle travel-tanned flesh was once again puckered with goosebumps. And yet he couldn't find it in himself to move an inch for warmth… for sure Kanna's doors would outlast his mortal flesh.

Why didn't he decide to sleep this cold night away? And where had all his reasoning gone? Itachi constricted a breath with his tongue. Still in idle thought, it's smooth texture tickled along a dry pallet… 'Similarities.'

Ah, yes there it was: the catalyst of Itachi's near nonexistent pity.

"…," With one more fleeting glance down to his hands which held this plate, it's countenance hidden in the nearly midnight shadow of the corridor, Itachi parted Kanna's bedroom doors with a toe.

Truly it was like entering another world, a world he wouldn't associate with someone from such a flamboyant clan as Kanna's. Itachi nearly felt like glancing back at the door, to make sure he hadn't passed through some space-time ninjutsu continuum. When he thought of all that was associated with the Haru clan: their affinity for floral ninjutsu, those bright colors and vivid images in his head of people just as soft-featured as Kanna and Kouji; this room's aura was so crooked in comparison.

The room was something less than dark. Precisely four saucer candles held up by three-legged wooden stands, stood at each of the room's corners. Their little nub like flames cast an eerie orange glow throughout most of the room, yet formed monstrous shapes across the bare walls that were merely the distorted shadows of furniture.

Sharingan absorbed the rooms abnormal appearance; Kanna's neglect left her little wardrobe scattered across the cold wooden floors, various cups lay in various places -- so unorganized. Itachi could not help but think finding her would be more difficult with so much clutter in the way.

Suddenly, something had upset the dead stillness. A good ten feet away from him, close to the nearly shut sliding doors that lead out to the ice glazed deck, was a glint of a metal something. It took a few seconds for Itachi to identify the heavy plunk and shimmer of a grass hitai-ate that now laid on the floor, half of it visible with the other half dipped in darkness.

"Kanna-san," said Itachi, somewhat surprised by the deep tone of his own casual voice.

There was no more movement; Itachi's eyes were still on the hitai-ate. However a pale hand struck out of the darkness, took hold of the dark gray cloth strap and dragged the forehead protector into the darkness, as if it had been caught by a dead hand and yanked into a grave.

Head cocking to the side, sharingan pierced the shadow to make out an outline of Kanna seated on the covers of a simple rollout bed.

"Most people are aware if you sit and do nothing…nothing will come of it," Itachi's voice had that calm tone, with that mysterious way of wafting across a room needing little effort.

In the flutter of the single flamed candles, Kanna rolled back her stiff shoulders. "Are you attempting to say I'm not one of those people?" her voice carried the anger from two days ago.

Itachi shut the doors behind him with a crisp click, stepped forward, and kept his usual composure. "I can't think otherwise," he responded simply.

Two days she had kept so to herself, that the only time Itachi caught the briefest glimpse of her, was when she left the manor to skulk into the forest like a gloomy ghost.

Sheets ruffled on the slick wood floors as Kanna shifted on the rollout bed. "So?" sadly that was the only comeback she was capable of right now, it was lame. She felt dull with her sudden lack of wit. "This is how I deal with things, all right?"

Itachi somewhat scowled, "…it's a pathetic method."

"_Everything_ about me is pathetic to you," Kanna shot back, stung.

The depressions along his eyes seemed to deepen, upset that she was unable to charm the viper that was her attitude, "must you always be so hostile?" he questioned, voice vacant of feel.

Kanna's slouched head came up from between her knees with a heaviness, just to glare right at him, she could only hope he saw she was in no need for his enraging critique.

"Hostility, impudence…I can safely assume by the examples of Deidara, Kisame, and yourself, that Akatsuki operate only by those. So consider my hostility checked under your scroll of requirements," she served at him from the black.

_What _on God's earth was her problem tonight?

He stepped defiantly forward, no longer curiously standoffish about her anger. "For someone who flees from battle, you're quite confrontational Kanna-san," he coolly volleyed back.

Flees from battle? That cut deep.

"What is it you want from me?" bitterly pursued Kanna. "Because right now I'm not in the mood for…well for anything," she flatly stated.

His expression stayed as motionless as a well crafted painting. Tonight he wouldn't allow himself to grow hostile. Itachi reminded himself that Kanna was seventeen, a girl, and obviously taking her frustration out on him. So with a heavy sigh, "Kanna-san, calm yourself. I'm also not in the mood for any needless arguing."

Kanna was about to turn away, but the sudden sound of a dish tumbling heavily onto a table startled her. Head snapping in that direction, the subtle light of the saucer candles illuminated a square, white plate just steadying on the only table in her assigned bedroom. From where she sat, Kanna was unable to make out what laid on the plate exactly.

"You're usually such an avid eater," he continued, while he recoiled his weapon skilled hands carefully back beneath his cloak's broad sleeves.

There was a sudden _eep_ of pain just then, or something quite similar to it.

Itachi brought his head up quick to observe Kanna's eyes, they had widened in the quick aftermath of a sting to her already suffering self-esteem. _An avid eater?_

Truly Itachi had said the wrong thing, he had forgotten that once Kisame poked fun at Kanna, saying she was a little thick for his taste. Weight as a subject with any woman was a taboo. Itachi almost felt stupid cause of it. Bringing Kanna a meal was turning out to be more difficult than he had expected.

"That…" sharingan flickered out to the right from the left as his innards turned, not believing he put himself in such a trivial, almost adolescent type position. "That came out wrong," he said, almost in a apologetic tone of voice.

He merely meant to say she was not one to miss a meal and to skip two days worth of food was not like her or any other healthy person.

After a moment of awkward silence, which by now Itachi was becoming quite familiar with, he observed Kanna creep forward out of the shadows like a wary creature. He was nearly taken aback by her appearance just then. Kanna did not at this time wear makeup, she had no such luxuries, however the shock of her tired, worry worn face to Itachi was like all her beauty had been dulled by the wipe of a cloth.

Instantly she sensed something amiss, "wha-what…?" she awkwardly questioned, after catching Itachi's prolonged stare on her face.

With no immediate reply from him, Kanna raised an anxious hand, fingering along her smooth jaw line as if unsure what part of her features to hide.

Almost mournful for her once vibrant appearance, Itachi respectably looked away. "Eat," he ordered.

She hesitated, the dignity of a prisoner had yet to clasp her. "I've never been commanded to eat before…"

And yet Kanna acted with a surprising meekness to Itachi's firm command.

Without anymore question, just a bit of guilt for being so rude, Kanna hobbled over to the little floor table in the middle of her room. However once she got there, Kanna paused to gawk down at the plate.

"Erm…" she was at a loss for words. Exactly what was he trying to get her to eat?

Atop the squared white plate, sat something out of a frat house. This sandwich was monstrous with its bread like that of a sponge, for it had soaked up the oddly sliced tomatoes' juices and condiments all into itself. The lettuce had been piled on to a rabbit's liking, and the french-fry thick onion slices sat atop the only edible looking part of the sandwich, the turkey.

Had this sandwich seen better days? Did it self-destruct on the plate?

With no way to refuse his generous, but brutal offer without feeling fiendish, Kanna continued to look apprehensively to the sandwich. What a foe.

"Something the matter?" she heard Itachi's deep voice challenge.

Kanna poked the sandwich, half expecting it to growl at her or crawl off the plate upset. And With one last prod with her finger, the sandwich squirted mustard. Kanna's bottom lip quivered in fear. "No…no I don't have a problem, really-" how come it was so hard trying to tether down a grin?

To her this moment was just as thwarting for Itachi as it was…cute; an essence of innocence charmed Kanna.

He watched her stand up and take the plate back to where she had been sitting. For whatever reason Kanna was taking apart the sandwich bit by bit. And when he questioned her why exactly she was, all she modestly replied with was that she disliked onions. How was he to know?

'Him bringing me dinner, how unexpected…' she thought in astonishment to herself, still picking at the sandwich to get it more to her liking, or what her gag reflexes would allow.

This gesture of Itachi was kind, it seemed out of character and then so in. Brown, run of the mill eyes always shy of the exotic sharingan, as Kanna made sure to look away from Itachi, she came to realize that for the two long days she stayed secluded to herself, that she hoped secretly he would come to check on her eventually. And tonight was just that night.

"If you remove anymore of it, nothing will be left but the bread," Itachi evenly pointed out, feeling less and less appreciated the more the sandwich was peeled away.

Kanna nearly smiled to herself, "you didn't have to bring me anything-"

"I'm aware," was his abrupt reply.

All he did was bring her a sandwich, it wasn't like she would never give into her hunger and sneak into the kitchen.

With the sandwich appearing a little less menacing, Kanna tore a corner off and began to eat. In all truth and honesty her two-day starved belly wished to wolf the entire thing down, but the need to be composed with manners in front of Itachi, was far too scolding to allow such.

For a few minutes he allowed her to eat.

"The explanation for your absence," Itachi finally demanded.

Kanna stalled a bite. "Explanation?" she repeated awkwardly, the back of her hand concealing her full mouth, a finger or two making sure nothing half masticated plopped out.

He unbuttoned his high collar to fold it down like a flap so his neck and strong protruding collar bone were visible. "Yes. And it would be best in your interest Kanna-san, that it be a very good one."

She looked off for a moment while finishing off the last bite and swallowing. Kanna could think of no worthy excuse but her own faults of over analyzing things. Itachi seemed to figure this out almost immediately, cause he turned away from her with a heavy, almost disappointed sigh.

"Sit," Kanna then offered, quite out of the blue.

Itachi merely gestured with a flick of his hand: a respectful decline.

She however didn't take that as a real answer. With her right hand she patted the covers beside her, "not like you have any other place to run off to. Just sit, please?"

"…," Lips pursed together in a silent consideration, he decided to reward her persistency. With little more than a nod in response to Kanna, Itachi sauntered over to the roll out bed she sat upon. The floor creaked even beneath his light steps and then he stood for a moment before the blankets, eyeing them with curiosity. How come he felt intrusive?

Kanna gave a little scoot over, as he finally sat himself down.

Soon after, sitting side by side, that awkward silence fell.

Both stared dead on to the sliding doors of the room that lead out to the deck. One could make out a thin sliver of pale moonlight and the wisps of chilling air, as if winter had puckered his thin lips and blew between the neat parted doors.

Why had she asked him to sit down? Did she have something of great importance to say?

"Kanna-san, I don't have all night," voice deep and serious as ever, Itachi's right hand ascent his form to have his long, elegant digits comb through his bangs.

Molding a piece of bread between her index and thumb anxiously, "about…about the incident in the living room…" she started, cautiously.

Nearly frowning, Itachi leant his head back. "We've already been over your brother's outlook on you, what would have--?"

"No," Kanna quickly corrected, "please, it wouldn't take a genius to know my brother thinks no better of me," sadly. "I just…I don't want you to…to judge me from that incident alone." She had her reasons. Of course Kanna knew perfectly well she could have handled it better, with more grace and less…monstrous ferocity.

Another cold breath wafted across Itachi's face. He felt like getting up to shut the doors all the way, but knew if he stood, it would be even more difficult to sit back down for the second time. "That incident is between you and your brother," he said, "I've nearly forgotten."

A inexplicable weight toppled off her shoulders then. And yet Kanna did not feel any less responsible or sorry to Kouji. She just didn't want this to damper Itachi's outlook on her.

Itachi's hand fell from his hair then, his long bangs slid across his left cheek bone like that of a black velvet curtain. He understood fully that Kanna and Kouji's relationship was none of his business.

Sandwich more than gone, Kanna set the plate aside. The paranoia had settled, however the identity of it still baffled her. 'I find myself wanting to actually impress him…I'm worrying about things that have nothing to do with what I'm doing here!' Kanna thought in hysterics.

She felt it had developed into a pathetic obsession, like someone would take up with the news, needing to know every detail, ever reaction to an action. There was just some importance in it all. What did Itachi think when she succeeded? What did Itachi think when she failed? What did he think…at all?

And as Kanna continued to look out through the doors' sliver hopelessly, the night crisp and clean beyond, she became aware that her questions even delve to superficial levels.

The need to appear clean and beautiful, she had never felt so strongly until recently.

"I look like a medical patient…" she muttered, feebly attempting to comb her fingers through her own hair that was now only air dried, making the long tresses wavy with frizz. "No flat-irons here," Kanna casually joked.

Itachi's thin lips creased into something vaguely like that of a faint smile. It was unlike him to laugh at such silly humor -- it was unlike him to laugh at all, unless nearly unconscious by the mind drowning effects of well brewed liquor. Yet the longer he was around Kanna, the more comfortable he became with her throughout their time together, it was hard to ignore the allure of her vitality when she wasn't dragging herself down with worry.

"Don't agonize over your appearance Kanna-san…" he said, gently observing her from the corner of his eye. "There really is no need."

So difficult to decipher Itachi. He was relatively emotionless, rarely troubled by anything besides someone prying into his personal life. The goings in the world around him were like insignificant shreds of paper, so quickly brushed into a wastebasket. The vacancy in his voice, all that lack of emotion was fascinating to Kanna.

Jaw taut, teeth unknowingly biting down on his tongue behind those thin lips of his, Itachi was enjoying the soft wafts of Kanna's fragrance. The sweet smell road on her breath and the constant flicking of her hair, desperate attempts to make herself more presentable. All she kept doing was fidgeting, was she uncomfortable with him sitting by her?

He turned to look at Kanna, only to catch her staring and just as quickly as he blinked, she turned away. Soon his ears picked up a symphony of popping knuckles.

Bit by bit it was all beginning to make a sweet, child like sense to him. Kanna's behavior shoved Itachi back into time, when he was in the shinobi academy back in Konohagakure. Those innocent days of play, crushes, and ignorant bliss. But how could she…?

"Not exactly a clock in here but I'm sure it's pretty darn late," Kanna finally dared to speak.

However Itachi had not caught on, he seemed to have zoned out. Sharingan were glazed over in thought, body more rigid than ever. For he found himself pondering a question he had long ago crumpled up and threw aside…

"Kanna-san…" her name issued passed his warm lips, softer than he had wanted.

Uneasy with Itachi's sudden odd behavior, she carefully inclined her head in question while folding her hands atop her lap.

He was not a man to care about what the world thought of him. By now Itachi had come to terms with his choices in life, all those wrongs he had committed. Amidst the field of villainy, Itachi was the most vile flower, surely his sins would be revered the worst amaranth. For what kind of man, a thirteen-year-old child really, could kill his own mother and father and show no sense of guilt?

What kind of woman could desire such a man?

The more time passed, the more confused Kanna found herself. So she then leant a hand to Itachi. Gently did she caress the smooth path of his right shoulder, broad with muscle and tight with tension she could never visibly see in his expression.

Cloak covering his skin, he could imagine the warm sensation of her palm. Somehow it soothed Itachi, even if she really cared nothing for his wellbeing.

. "Kanna-san, tell me…what do you think of me?"

The air to her all at once became still, hot, and uncomfortable. In the manor somewhere, window shutters purred against the outside walls with another gust of cold wind. Never before had he asked something that related so close to himself. And she didn't know what to say. Was there a real response at all?

"I…" throat dry, Kanna found herself unable to string a sentence together.

Besides the shock, Kanna thought of this sadness in Itachi's voice. It was faint, but swam alongside that deep, careless tone, like a undercurrent. It seemed to have swept her under, filling her mouth and lungs with the hints that he waited to hear the very worst and could stand all truth, no matter how painful truth was.

"Hmm," Itachi hummed, now putting the scrutiny of sharingan upon Kanna. A faint, distraught humor was about him now, "your pause tells me enough, don't hurt yourself attempting to think up sweet untruthful words to indulge me--"

Suddenly, Kanna's eyebrows furrowed, upset that he dare think she thought low of him. "Do not sell yourself short like that! _You're a good man_ Itachi-san, one whose made tragic mistakes in the past and like you can't hold _my_ mistakes against me, I won't hold what you regret, against you. Not after all you've done for myself and Kouji. Surely you must feel some good in yourself for doing so? And if you don't -- you should!"

"…," Sharingan lost their tightly clamped narrowness, to widen with pure astonishment. Like his question had come as a shock to Kanna, Kanna's sudden scolding came as a shock to him. That truly had not been the reply he thought he was going to get or deserved.

For the briefest of moments did he feel appreciated. The unworldly compliment had taken him hold by the heart and squeezed it so tightly that the muscle fluttered in his chest with desperation for more. Kanna's words did what liquor could not. And it felt good.

And like all the times before, silence fell.

Kanna could only sit, wondering what her blurted last words had meant to him. If it did any good at all…

The popping of knuckles had stopped. Itachi figured Kanna had run out of joints and was now just sitting, waiting for his reply. It pained him to think it somehow, but as he closed his eyes and lolled his head back a bit, as if praying, Itachi's torn demon picked ruthlessly at Kanna's kindness, It labeled it nothing more than the words of a naive girl.

"We will see how your outlook on me shall alter…" Itachi paused to turn his lolled back head, so he could peer calmly at Kanna, "the deeper you delve Kanna-san, into Akatsuki."

With his head bent back so elegantly, Kanna's eyes wandered over his throat, tracing over the small lump that was his Adams apple. She did not expect her outlook on him would alter for the worse, even if he himself sounded certain.

"Yeah…we'll see Itachi-san," muttered Kanna, a faint smile upon her face.

The night seemed to have grown colder, darker as the saucer candles' wick barely bobbed atop the liquefied wax. To Kanna, who stared at Itachi through the diminishing candle light, his features had grown softer, leaving behind that tired aura.

Sharingan on the other hand, burned sinister as ever. Their red was like a deeply inflicted wound, their multiple tomoe, puncture holes. Itachi kept them activated to increase his normal eyesight, deteriorated by the wear of the mangekyo form. He wore them to be wary and to show others to be wary of him. And yet to Kanna, who didn't possess such a blood trait or the knowledge of their meaning, found them…

"Your eyes," muttered Kanna, catching Itachi's keen attention at last. "…they're beautiful, you know that?"

Beautiful? Never before had anyone dared to say his intimidating, demonic stare was any better than sinister.

He watched in question as Kanna once again leant her delicate hand out. Her smooth fingertips brushed aside his dark bangs, locks of hair he so often seemed to hide behind.

"Yes, you should never shut them…not even at night…" she continued. With his bangs aside, the orange glow from the candles seemed to be absorbed by sharingan. A warm, almost sensual flame radiated from them. Kanna smiled once again, Itachi's velvet smooth skin on the back of her hand was hot to the touch. She continued to boldly stroke across his cheek.

And in the blink of an eye, Itachi wearing a tranquil expression, grasped Kanna's wrist and held her hand to his face. Her instinct was to pull away, startled he had taken hold of her limb. But he did not rough house her in anyway. Instead, he looked to her hand with the exact same gentleness she used when gazing into him.

He had always been marveled by her hands, so small, pale, and dainty compared to his own. "I'm not hurting you…am I?" Itachi inquired, his warm breath wafting across her fingers.

Kanna's heart beat at a rapid pace, the strong manly grip on her wrist was more soothing than painful. "No…no you're not," she muttered back in reply.

There was a caring, gentleness in Itachi, Kanna had never seen so prominent before. The way he held her hand, carefully rotating her wrist this way and that, seemed so unlike him. As if it had been kept away by Itachi purposely.

"What…what is it about my hands you're so interested in?" she inquired, a bit of nervous laughter escaping.

It seemed he preferred to show her than really answer. Kanna watched Itachi fold her fingers, singling out just one. He brought it up to his thin lips and she felt the tension swell and burst once Itachi eased her index finger into the warmth of his mouth.

Kanna could feel his tongue swirl about her digit, warm and slick…actually soothing. She found herself shuddering, a single chill had run up her spine. Though it would be decent of her to pull back, she could not help but watch as sharingan locked with her own eyes, and Itachi continued to suck on her digit so gently.

After a moment more, he removed Kanna's finger from his mouth, but kept her hand close so he could gently pull her forward. Kanna was brought up to her knees and hauled towards Itachi. With one hand to crawl, she was thankful he was not more than a foot away.

"Back before our arrival at the manor, in the forest outside The Land of Silk," he said, face nearing her own, sharingan fluttering across her worn features that seemed to brighten and beautify once again with a blush, "After we had finished off the jug of rice wine…you were acting rather suggestively."

Kanna froze, dry mouthed and more aware of the pace of their own breaths than ever. Never before had so many nerves knotted up inside her, until she met Itachi. "I recall…" she was able to muster.

He had drawn her close enough that her soft, ample bust was nearly pressed against him. "You do?" Itachi repeated, somewhat struck. He hadn't expected she remembered much though.

A surge of hot blood flowed beneath his skin so radically when he recalled the rainy memory. Wet hair, rain slicked skin, transparent clothing…Never before had he wanted someone so badly, but respected them enough to not take advantage.

"Kanna-san, to refuse you on the count of your intake of sake, you have no idea how difficult it was for me," he brushed his thumb across Kanna's bottom lip, earning a shiver from the young woman.

Kanna's own hand was by his mouth, finger still damp from him. The recollection of that night to her had been nothing but rejection. Almost a disgrace because he believed her actions were drunken antics. Now though, she realized his want had been true enough to bypass her with respect.

Kanna dared herself; she started to trace the shape of his lips. They were thin, but smooth and beautifully delicate. "That night I must confess…" she started, voice tense. Itachi parted his lips somewhat, allowing her to trace along the crease of both his lips, in hopes he could envelope another digit in warmth as he listened. "That I was more level-headed than I let on. Forgive me for making a fool of myself in front of you. But my intentions…nothing was false about them."

Sharingan drifted into a half-lidded state, unfocused with thought as the tender tickle of her finger along his lips continued. What he wanted from Kanna right now he realized, was something more than expected. For so long he had deprived himself of all that was and is wonderful in the world. The pleasures of a woman's touch, making friends, conversation, a night out even with the others of Akatsuki were nonexistent. But mostly, Itachi took from himself as penance, the thought that there was any hope for him. Hope for him in anything good.

She had shifted against him, somewhat shying away from any real intimate contact.

"Kanna-san, can you forgive me for that night?"

By _that night_, she knew exactly what Itachi spoke of. The very night they had first kissed, when he first touched her in a way less than appropriate, and the night he had warned her speaking of it would be in her worst interests. It had stung to think back to it, almost making Kanna want to stand up and walk away, in fear this night could be no different.

And yet, the way he looked at her. How gentle he was being…"Yeah, I forgive you. Just, let's not have this night end the same…okay?" A bittersweet smile did she direct at him, hoping he'd agree.

Without a word in advance, Itachi brought his lips to Kanna's. Naturally she had stiffened as the bearer of the vermillion bird in Akatsuki, murderer of his clan moved his lips confidently over her own. She could really only think of one thing, her purpose here. And how far a stretch it was to what she was doing now.

Nevertheless, she felt her body tremble but rise to the bait. Where Itachi's soft lips touched blindly along her own, Kanna felt chills run along her spine, making her knees tremble and toes curl in new pleasure. This kiss was different than the others. It was like the first.

"Itachi-san," she murmured softly. And in that brief moment, Itachi slipped his tongue into her mouth.

She wished she could enjoy it more, but found herself worrying that her lips, more experimental than confident, would not suffice him. However once she relaxed, Itachi's tongue gladly took dominance over her own and before Kanna could stop herself, she gave a soft moan.

Itachi broke for air, a slight smirk played across his features.

"You've really never done this before, have you?" he questioned.

Face radiating a nameless shade of red, Kanna was unsure of how to respond. Would he stop if she said she hadn't?

"I…well," Kanna's fingers had fallen away from his lips. But Itachi quickly caught onto her thoughts and shook his head.

"No, I'm pleasantly surprised Kanna-san. There is no shame in being…untouched," it wasn't as much a surprise, as a suspicion to Itachi. Kanna seemed somewhat frigid with their first encounter. But proved to be more embarrassed than anything else.

He leaned forward so the tip of his nose pressed alongside her cheek. Kanna picked up the pleasant, masculine smell of Itachi and it clouded her senses. Without much of a look back, Kanna splayed her hands onto Itachi's broad shoulders, smothering his mouth with her hurried, inexperienced kisses.

Itachi never imagined himself in such a position. In some way he hoped, but that's all it had ever been to him. Who besides Kanna could get, intrigue, and excite him?

A soft smacking was in the air, both inhaling deeply through their noses and trembling beneath the other's touch. Kanna's fingers, nearing a tremor, kneaded Itachi's shoulders idly as his hands traveled down the curve of her back so his hands could grasp her bottom.

In a shuddering exhale, Kanna peeled at the buttoned folds of Itachi's Akatsuki cloak, wanting if off sooner than later. Once she had seen his upper body bare in the stone courtyard during his solo practice, though the magnificent image was bore in her head, nothing compared to the real thing.

Not allowing their lips to break contact, Itachi shrugged out of his heavy cloak and tossed it somewhere behind Kanna, the fishnet shirt underneath following suit.

Timidly the young woman ran the pads of her fingers across Itachi's chest. His lean build, grooved abs, and the V of muscle which traveled down beneath his trousers had her eyes set with astonishment. She had never seen a man nearly so beautiful as him. Even Itachi's skin tone was something to behold. Smooth, traveled-tanned and soft in the moonlight that beamed in through the sliver of the doors. Kanna felt her stomach tighten just then with nerves.

Yet as she sat there beside him on her knees, Itachi's strong hands gently wrapped around her waist, hushing the worry. Catching her mouth once again, Itachi's kiss deepened, taking the very breath from her. Head turning from side to side after a few moments in one position, his teeth pinched her upper lip gently and he sucked on it until it turned a puffy pink and he released it with a little _plop_ back in place.

He had lulled her so with his deep kissing, Kanna had not noticed his skilled hands had crept behind her back, to pull a tail of her maroon sash's bow. The hold of her yukata had lessened then and she jerked back. "Sorry I-" the sash came loose and fell around her knelt form.

Itachi watched expressionlessly as the young woman clasped tightly to the folds of her yukata, desperate to keep it on. He was impressed by her modesty, women in this day and age seemed more detached from their clothes than attached.

As he sat, still observing her tense body, Itachi gently brought himself up to ease her back onto the rollout bed. At first Kanna seemed unwilling to comply, but with another gentle gesture from him she laid back, hands fast to the front of her robe and staring nervously up to the ceiling.

Leant beside her, idly Itachi ran his free hand through her long black hair. At some point he caressed the side of her face and mouthed to her gentle reassurance that she was indeed beautiful and it should be a crime that she hid herself.

And like a finely crafted key, Itachi's words seemed to have relaxed Kanna to unlock her intertwined fingers.

With a simple pull, the rest of her sash was discarded and the Haru clan insignia yukata, fell open like large petals. Kanna was absolutely still as Itachi brought himself over her form, hovering really so only a bit of his weight, practically all in muscle, barely touched her.

Slowly, Itachi traced the curve of her breasts that were snuggly held by her bra. To him they were perfect in proportion. And as his finger continued to run along her supple curves lazily, he felt Kanna tremble.

"Flawless," he thought out loud, while lowering his head down her body.

Itachi's breath had altered, it became hot and deep against Kanna's cool skin. Gently he started to kiss along her stomach. They were warm, soft, and full kisses that left little patches of glistening saliva here and there as he went.

Working his way up, Itachi's tongue protruded his lips to run along her tense throat, where he was unable to help himself and bit down.

A hair tie was now snuggly wrapped about Kanna's wrist and Itachi's dark mane spread along his bare back like black lace. In reflex to the sudden pain of his bite, she took hold of his hair, tangling her fingers in the soft strands. She soon felt the soothing warmth of his tongue over the soreness.

Mouth snug against her neck, Itachi watched from the corner of sharingan, his nimble fingers slide beneath one of the straps of her bra. He guided it down her shoulder to where it hung loose about her arm. About to pull the other down, Kanna had grasped his wrist in desperation. At first he nudged her hand away and went back to the strap, but she grabbed at him once again with more urgency.

Itachi raised his stare, to witness in her face that she was unwilling to part with this particular article of clothing. And with reluctance, Itachi ran his hands down her arms and moved on.

Kanna continued to look up at ceiling, grateful he had allowed her to keep some dignity. And yet as she laid, her nerves began to jump at the faintest of touches. Itachi was drawing circles on her legs with his fingers, caressing her hips and rubbing along her thighs. A cool waft of breath he blew across her navel, before his tongue reached out and dabbed along inside.

"Huh…!" Kanna pressed her lips together and squirmed beneath Itachi.

Her trembling had become more frequent, he could see it along the surface of her skin, the subtle quivering and shakes of fear. Why even the whimpering came up so sudden, like strained hiccups.

"I'm…I'm sorry," she whispered to him apologetically, wearing a expression that looked as if she were fighting back the need to cry. She didn't let him see it though, she kept her head lolled back.

Hands pressing onto her hips, Itachi's groin tightened uncomfortably behind his pants, "relax…relax," he whispered back, kissing his way down her happy trail.

Once his bottom lip snagged the top of her underwear, he shivered in delight and eyed the hem hungrily. Itachi slipped a cold hand between Kanna's pale thighs, running it up slowly to then cup against her lower region, warm with undeniable excitement. He smiled faintly, as her body gave a violent shudder from head to toe.

Gripping the edges of the young woman's underwear, Itachi pulled them down and off, before she could react. Itachi saw there was nothing to be bashful about. He saw her in the light she couldn't see when gazing into a mirror. To him, her body was more than to his liking.

Kanna's perspiring hands had tightened onto the covers of the rollout bed. She tried desperately to hold her self-consious whimpers, but the cool air rushed over her nearly naked body and she started to shake like a leaf. Itachi kissed and nipped down her chest regardless and Kanna's eyes widened suddenly when he had licked across her bareness.

An onslaught of pleasure caused her back to arch as Itachi's warm mouth opened and eased his tongue along her entrance. Invaded by smooth, slick heat, Kanna was unable to help herself. She closed her eyes, focusing on the point inside of her that was churning with delight. It continued to grow and writhe, until she could not help but plea --

"Itachi-san make love to me…please," she whispered.

Her breathless, urgent request caused Itachi to clench his teeth, member stiffening with want. Yes, he wanted to hear her ask for it, to finally give in on her own accord.

For only a few more moments did he indulge with her taste. Fingers parting her, his tongue flicked along and slipped inside. The taste was something sweet and unable to describe. Pleasurable bliss coursed through his veins, fighting the need to want more.

Itachi drew himself back then, licking his lips.

The indescribable pleasure had suddenly left her and Kanna cracked a welling eye to witness Itachi stand and remove the remainder of his clothes. Kanna gazed upon his naked flesh breathless but with desire that coexisted with her anxiety. He stood with no sign of embarrassment, the only flicker of emotion that went across his face was want and need.

The need to crawl away in fear, was still prominent in Kanna, however as Itachi knelt back down to lay across her with a strength, warmth, and gentleness, she felt safe and desired. Feelings that had escaped her for so long.

One hand did he place at the side of her head to hold himself up, before he wrapped one of her pale legs about his slender waist. Itachi then leaned forward to put his lips to hers, tongue attempting to poke between her teeth. Kanna complied and opened her mouth, sucking in his kiss so deeply her eyes shut in peace.

It was short lived though and then was when Kanna realized why his kiss was so deep. Itachi moved a digit to her entrance. It entered and Kanna went tense. Itachi slid his finger in and out gradually, before adding another digit, scissoring his fingers to accommodate himself for the first try.

Kanna rested her head back on a cylinder pillow, Itachi's mouth still smothered her cry of discomfort. She moaned in pain as his two digits ceased their scissoring motion and began to press upward, making her flinch.

Other hand occupied with holding himself up, Itachi felt guilt in causing hurt to Kanna. However this was the process and he only hoped she would enjoy it at some point. Hesitantly his mouth left hers with a smack of lip. Fingers still slowly thrusting, Itachi watched Kanna's expression, cautious of loud cries he would have to silence. He didn't want the others in the manor to hear her.

Looking up, her eyes that had welled, now spilled over. She caught the blurred vision of Itachi's face, his eyes fluttered shut, getting a pleasure from his current actions.

Kanna gently traced one of the depressions underneath his eyes, and Itachi opened his and locked stare with her. When they first met, when she first looked into sharingan, all Kanna felt was fear. The penetrating red stare however over the time they became acquainted, showed to harbor regret. Regret Kanna could only feel sympathy for and respect.

Not about to avert his gaze, Itachi removed his digits and shifted himself, and before Kanna could guess why, he thrust himself inside of her.

Kanna couldn't stall the scream that escaped from between her lips, but Itachi caught it with a quick hand. Kanna's eyes were tightly shut, but she felt the warmth of Itachi's palm over her mouth, drowning out the sound of her agony. She shifted beneath his full weight the best she could to escape this stinging pressure she had never known. And when she half-expected Itachi to slam in fully, breaking her into the floor, the Uchiha remained quite still though his breathing was coming in short, hard gasps as if he were working harder.

Brown eyes easing back open, her tears washed off Itachi's muffling palm like rain on rock. Resting inside her, Itachi watched Kanna take in a deep breath through her nose. When it seemed her cry had come to an end, Itachi gently lifted his hand from her mouth to put his index finger up to his thin lips.

"Shhh…" he warned.

Kanna had ceased her trembling, the fear had all gone out once she met the unknowing head on. Slowly raising up a little, Kanna delivered a sweet kiss to Itachi's swollen, parted lips, then unexpectedly put a arm about his neck for support.

Finally sure that Kanna was use to him, it began.

He closed his eyes and with his full length half way inside of her, he plunged himself deep in and cringed a bit -- not in pain, but shocked by the sudden pleasure that pulsed throughout his body. Head tossed back, a soft moan escaped Itachi's lips, and he gritted his teeth breathing through the cracks before releasing the tension by pulling out, only to push back inside. Her tightness around him, was bliss all in itself.

There was a beauty to their lovemaking, quite unexpected to both of them. It was unhurried yet deep. Painful for her, but wanted nonetheless. Kanna had never felt anything remotely similar, her nerve endings were on high alert as their bare skin brushed against the other with his pace. She watched in heated amazement, Itachi's motion. That toned stomach of his, moved like a wave across her own and his back curled in deeply for every thrust.

One arm about Itachi's neck was not enough though, she gripped onto the arm that bared the ANBU marking and groaned. His thrusts had his length reach deep up into her, nudging Kanna's core repeatedly. She could feel it again, that slow churn of nerves in her abdomen that quite nearly pushed her over the edge.

Suddenly, Itachi had dropped Kanna's one leg that kept her other up. Both hands slapped onto the floor on either side of her head, his legs had him moving back and forth faster against Kanna, grinding his pelvis along her own to delve deeper.

He matched her moan for moan, heaving hot breath against her when his mouth drew close to her own. Itachi was whispering incoherent words to Kanna, even she could not string a sentence together once his thrusts became quicker, pushing the air out of her with every hit.

"Ita-Ita…huh!" Her eyes rolled back to the whites when his mouth crushed desperately onto hers, caught up in the moment.

Thirsty for Kanna's kiss, Itachi's tongue swirled along her own, pushing it back and tickling her pallet until he drew back for a gasp of breath. His dark hair cascaded down, framing his face messily, but not hiding the flush in his cheeks.

"Say it…say it," he harshly whispered by her ear, eyes squinting with a sense of euphoria.

Sweat slicked his magnificent stature. Every muscle became defined with his strain to hold back a swelling release. Kanna rocked back and forth beneath him on the rollout bed, oblivious to their surrounding and to the others in the manor.

Say it? Say what?

Skin shuddering, Itachi's face had suddenly disappeared from view. Until she felt him press his face between her breasts, she still wore her bra but with him rubbing, mouthing against the fabric between her cleavage, it had gone askew and she nearly spilled out.

Kanna's legs quivered on either side of Itachi, his thrusts shaking her. And as he gazed pleadingly into her brown sights, all at once pleasure reached it's peak.

"Say it," he panted, "say my name…!" How he longed to hear her cry out for him. It mattered not that the others could hear anymore; just this once.

Kanna moaned, lips gaping to mouth no word on this planet as she felt him pulsate within her. Face hot, digits unknowingly digging into Itachi's arms, she called out his name just once, leaving no pleasure in her tone unquestionable.

That wonderful tension finally snapped. Muscles tightened, skin all a quiver, Itachi came inside Kanna with a half-strangled groan. He became aware of it all. The sight, the smell, the sound of flesh hitting into flesh...amazing.

Her head fell back onto the pillow as she felt the hot liquid spill into her, running down between her upper thighs once he pulled out and collapsed by her left side, breath irregular.

Kanna gave a shudder, a feeling of emptiness physically and the cold that seeped in through the sliding doors, wafted across her nearly nude body. So Itachi pulled her to him, wrapping the covers of the rollout bed over both of their bodies.

"Kanna…" he whispered, voice soft with the mesmerizing effects of their lovemaking.

A pain there was inside her. And yet Kanna was too exhausted to pay it heed, "hmm?" she hummed in drowsy question.

Through the single window of Kanna's room, in the light of a gray dawn, Itachi eyes now coal black with exhaustion, watched as the first snowflake of the new winter fell. First there was one, and then there were many. Like puffs of clean white cotton, Itachi felt comforted by the sight.

"Happy Birthday Kanna-san, though I am about an hour too late," said Itachi, eyes flickering across Kanna's flushed, heart-shaped face with a new feeling.

He never ceased to amaze her.

Kanna with some difficulty, since her limbs felt like they weighed more than usual, brought her hand up to intertwine their fingers. "Thank you…by far, you're the best present I've ever been given." She would laugh if she had the strength.

And Itachi smiled, calm and untroubled before sleep took the both of them.

---

"For once I'm the first awake, how fortunate for me, hmm."

The glass doors of the kitchen, swung open then as Deidara made his way out of the manor onto the slippery deck. Winter, awe how he despised this season. It lacked the explosive reds and oranges of a finely detonated bomb.

"Everything is so white, plain, and ordinary…pft," he hopped atop the deck railing and squatted much like a mountain baboon.

Everything had been blanketed in white while he slept. Why it was so white he could barely keep his eyes from blinking. Everything was covered in snow. From the bare trees, to naked bushes, and what couldn't collect snow had a coating of what looked like grated crystal. All along the shingle roof of the shed, across the deck and the very banister he knelt upon, had that glittering shimmer.

Hand tucking into his cloak, Deidara dislodged his faithful metal contraption. Placing it on his eye, he began to turn the scope with a few crisp clicks, altering the lens to focus on further distances.

And then suddenly, he heard a voice that nearly made his lips curl inside out.

"What are you doing Deidara-senpai, observing the beauty of winter more closely?" inquired Tobi, arms thrown up in a good morning stretch.

Deidara had lowered his hand from his scope hesitantly, then decided to ignore Tobi in hopes he'd go away.

But that did not happen. Instead Tobi walked forward to lean against the deck railing beside Deidara's baboon-squat form.

"I like winter, snow is so diverse you can mold it into just about anything. A snowman, a snow-woman, snowchild…why even a snow shinobi I bet," Tobi chuckled.

His senpai however didn't find his interruption amusing at all. "Why not make me a snow-hatchet, so I can take your blasted head off your shoulders, hmm?" There was another crisp click as Deidara continued to adjust the eye scope.

"Awe Senpai, don't be such a Grinch. I have a feeling as a child, you did not enjoy the festivities of winter?" Tobi cocked his head to the side, that orange mask of his brighter out in the winter blanket of white.

Deidara gave a half-assed snort, "fool, go play marbles with that brat, hmm."

One thing was good about the snow, anything that wasn't white stood out like a splotch of ink on blank paper. When Deidara achieved his desired range and focus, his head began to slowly rotate to the extent of his neck; surveying the area like a hawk.

Tobi continued to watch Deidara. "Kouji-kun doesn't want to be bothered, so I came to you," he patted Deidara on the back.

"Err," the clay master's eyebrow twitched, being knocked out of focus. "So now you bother me, eh? Fuck -- get lost, hmm!"

"Deidara-senpai, why are you always so hostile towards me? This is when I start to miss Kisame-san and Zetsu-san, they didn't treat me as such a -- OW!"

Tobi had been cut off by the painful plow of Deidara's big foot to his masked face. He felt a nosebleed about to come on and slapped both of his hands onto his mask where his nose should have been. "Why did you do that!?" he questioned, sounding emotionally hurt.

"Shut the hell up, hmm!" Deidara kicked Tobi in the face one more time. His junior fell back onto the ice slicked deck, now thinking his nose was just plain broken.

This had just been a regular morning survey, Deidara hadn't expected to see anything more than a deer or wandering fox. However between two grayed trees, he saw the distinct shimmer of a camouflage jutsu, waver.

A smirk curled the edges of Deidara's mouth.

"What is it Deidara-senpai?" questioned Tobi, standing up and actually trying to rip the scope off Deidara's eye.

"Back off nimrod!" growled Deidara, shoving Tobi away.

Once again thrown back, Tobi struggled to catch his balance, the slippery deck not making anything easy. "Well tell me what you see, Senpai! I want to know also," he pleaded, now taking hold of the railing and saving himself another nasty fall back.

Deidara heckled, "Heh, looks like we're being watched Tobi."

The clay master came up a bit from his baboon-squat, he couldn't move the trees in his way so needed a better position. An aura of excitement exuded from him now, absolutely certain he saw what he saw.

Suddenly, a big orange, spiraled something got smack in the way of his vision.

"Whose watching us Deidara-senpai? Enemy, foe?" With a hand clad in black, Tobi poked the little lens of the scope, much like a pigeon would a window to come in from the cold.

This had Deidara absolutely livid. "Idiot, get your circus mug out of my way!"

"Tell me who it is!" Tobi pleaded into the lens.

Fed up with this, Deidara ripped the scope from his eye, stepped off the deck railing and shoved Tobi off balance. Like a drunken sailor, Tobi went overboard and tumbled in a great puff of powdered snow.

Mumbling curses under his breath, Deidara looked over the rails. Tobi had made a very neat imprint on the cold snow and his senpai jeered, "why witness this, Tobi has made a dimwitted, snow shinobi, hmm."

Tobi groaned, the cold snow seeping into his Akatsuki cloak as he peered up to Deidara. Elbow on the rail, chin in hand, the blonde rolled his eyes, pitying Tobi.

"This is almost nostalgic for me. Because out there, right now Tobi, are a few rock forces watching us. Heh, wonder what the hell they want, hmm?"

"Us, _we are_ world renown S-ranked, missing-nin Deidara-senpai," Tobi pointed out, a sense of pride in his voice.

Those blue, greenish eyes of Deidara looked Tobi up and down as he laid, spread-eagled on the snow. "Tch, don't include yourself in the greatness of Akatsuki yet, my dear, stupid lesser. You haven't been a member long enough to gloat, hmm."

Sitting up, the masked man rubbed the back of his head gingerly. "Well, will I be able to call myself a member once Kanna-san takes the newbie title?"

"That's if she even makes it out of this manor, hmm," pointed out Deidara. The way Kanna was going, she'd be fit for the finest nursery. "Don't forget her initiation, why Tobi you should have had that brat practice a ninjutsu of some sort, then maybe Kanna-san would have killed him instead of just yelling at him like a mad woman. Would have solved it all right there, hmm."

Tobi shook his head, "how callous of you, Deidara-senpai."

* * *

a/n: Okay, I must say I tried a different style for the nosebleed scene. I wanted it a little less explicit and a bit more...well romantic actually. Which is different for me because I'm kind of...well, perverted. At least I can admit it! Anyway, I wish it could have been better, but I find myself acting up now that I know the story is almost at an end. Acting up in the way like, "i want it over with!" Not that I don't like this fanfic, I'm just happy to write the ending chapter :D 

As for the second arc, I'm still getting votes via private message for "do's & don'ts." I appreciate everybody who takes the time to review, give advice, and encourage me. If I could, I would hug you ALL. rofl

And I notice the OC gets praise. Which I'm so happy about! Because I took a long time trying to mold the "average, real girl" qualities into her. I wanted Kanna to seem like someone you could meet, like, and connect with, personality wise -- of course cause she's not real.

So this is long enough. School starts up for me the 20th and I will, and I mean I WILL finish this darn fanfic if I have to sit like a zombie for hours in front of my computer.

-connie

p.s. yeah, yeah I know I took the lyric and song title of an AFI song. But I couldn't help it, that song really helped me write this chapter XD **LONG LIVE DAVEY'S LONG HAIR!**


	18. withering to death

**!WARNING! **a minor nosebleed is towards the end of this chapter. Sorry to those who don't like these scenes, because i forgot to put a warning on chapter 17, the chapter with the full-on nosebleed. Uh...sorry about that guys. Lol_

* * *

_

_"'I can remember', once said the Amaranth."_

The two men appeared out of nowhere, a few yards apart in the midst of a early dawn, snow covered forest. For a second they stood quite still, kunai directed at each other's throats; then, recognizing each other, they stowed their knives back into their holsters and took movement in separate blips of speed.

"So?" asked the taller of the two.

"The four squads are taking the perimeter," replied Kino, stepping off a branch to briskly launch himself alongside his heavier partner.

The forest was no longer thick with leaves, only fickle branches, thin and bent like distorted skeletons, so not only did Kino and his companion need to be extra careful of remaining unseen, but as did those others who dwelled. The men's long cloaks flapped around their ankles as they hopped.

"Thought Tsuchikage-sama was over exaggerating with the level of danger he put on this mission," said Tooru, his blunt features sliding in and out of sight as the branches overhanging trees broke the light. "But I got a positive I.D. on Deidara. Just by himself that kid is more than a handful if you recall."

Kino scowled with much reminiscent disdain, "I do recall."

That kid Deidara, well man now… but back in Iwagakure, he knew no restraint on his jutsu. Truly he was like a ticking time bomb and trying to tell him to simmer down was absolutely impossible. Thus, his defection did not come as a surprise to anyone in the village.

Raising a silent hand to bring Tooru to a halt by his side, Kino knelt down on a thick, frosty branch and peered through the morning mist. Both were shrouded by the camouflage jutsu, not even the doe beneath them trusted her ears over her eyes as she stepped cautiously through the snow.

"And is it true?"

Not about to disrupt anything more than the animals, Kino inclined his head towards Tooru in question.

Tooru paused a bit to rub his beard, wondering if he should bother to ask at all. "Is it …is it true that _thee_ Uchiha Itachi is also stationed in the Midori Manor?"

There was no immediate response from Kino, only because he knew if the Tsuchikage left something out of his orders or information, it wasn't left out for no good reason. "Well…" he started, but Tooru caught onto his fault and jumped to a conclusion.

"Ah, it is true! God damn, I've never seen a real Uchiha…" he said in awe, while peeking over a branch, spotting the lonely manor and it's single lit window. "Wonder if their eyes are as frightening as they say?"

Somewhere in the distance a winter raven called to it's mate. At that moment Kino felt a chill run up and down his spine like the finger of death teasing. "More frightening than you could imagine…" muttered Kino, expression shrouded in the shadow of teetering doom.

Tooru could hardly ignore the look on the other's face. However the matter of this mission buzzed in his ear and he had to adjust his radios frequency to understand an incoming message from their cut-off unit.

_"We're positioned at the vantage point Captain Tooru-san…" _buzzing static followed.

Tooru tapped his microphone lightly with a index finger, "Good. Now do you have a positive I.D. on the masked member yet?"

_Bzzzz…"No."_

"NO?" the captain hissed through grit teeth. "We're running on a time limit here. Tsuchikage-sama will be making appearance any minute and before I give anyone authorization, or grant clearance to move out, I want a scout to send me a data profile of that unknown member!"

A surveillance team had been busy during the night calculating the threat of each individual Akatsuki. Lists of their known ninjutsu, genjutsu, and taijutsu had been copied and handed out to those who would be active on this mission. And the fact that this unknown member had been spotted and there was relatively nothing on him in any bingo book, could ruin their entire plan of ambush.

"Yosuke, this transmitter better be tap-proof…or I'll inform your Mother what a lousy tech you are" amusingly warned Tooru, waiting for a response over the hectic static. There were too many mountains about this area to get a clear transmission.

_Bzzzz…"Captain Tooru-san, from what we've gathered on the masked member by behavioral patterns alone and his interaction with the other members, his threat level seems minimal."_

A glance of uncertainty was exchanged between Tooru and Kino at that very moment. And as they both deliberated silently, the microphones in their ears gave a sudden, shrill cry, as if those on the other line had their mics ripped from them.

_"Kino…Kino?"_

That deep, monstrous voice could only belong to one man; the Tsuchikage.

"Good to know you've arrived safely Tsuchikage-sama," replied Kino, fingers pinching the mic bud to his mouth as he stared grudgingly out to the Midori Manor.

_"The threat of the masked Akatsuki member is minimal, do not sway this mission on such insignificance…" bzzzz._

Not many understood the Tsuchikage's logic. But it was painfully obvious he'd win anything if it cost him half of the shinobi in Iwagakure. So the two men perched in the forest said nothing to contradict him. All they did was listen, grudging thoughts throbbing in their mind.

When the line went quiet, Tooru closed his eyes and nodded his head. "Roger that…" ahead the Midori manor looked as peaceful as ever. However what dwelled within, would need more than a ambush, and more like a extensive exorcise. "Initiate ambush on my signal, and the cut-off unit…be sure to keep to your two-fold."

There was a simultaneously "hai," on the next incoming transmission.

"Tooru-san, do you honestly believe an ambush is the best course of action?" then questioned Kino, tightly gripping onto a branch so that when he revved it, bark peeled to the green. "I mean…we are dealing with S-class criminals." And he had grown tired of seeing bodies fall at the whim of their Shadow.

With a grin of confidence, the captain gave a quick nod. "The best. No one is immune to surprise and shock, not even the Akatsuki, no matter how proficient they are at underhanded tactics. Besides…" his hand delve into his back pocket, taking out a small mechanical gadget. "Those men are far more dangerous solo, when they can afford to be dangerously reckless."

Kino watched in silence as Tooru opened his hand to show the little mechanical contraption. It was shaped like a wasp, steel stinger, aluminum coated wings and all.

"See here," Tooru pointed out the mechanical wasps abdomen. "Inside, finely coated in aluminum, is a cube of C-4..." he then picked out a key from his pocket and put it into a little hole atop the wasps head and started to wind it up. "Once it makes a good landing, I'll detonate it from here, this will be the signal and what will confuse the Akatsuki."

"Did not Deidara create such a contraption back when he was your student in the academy?" inquired Kino, raising an eyebrow.

Tooru's right eyebrow twitched , "yeah, little bugger blew up half the practice area. Never did enjoy P.E. much, that kid."

Both exchanged snickers of laughter before they were interrupted by the lasts words of the Tsuchikage before the mission was to start.

_Bzzzz…"Kino, I'm leaving it to you and Ichiro's squad to retrieve the boy and kill his sister. Don't disappoint me, or else…" _

With the fading transmission of the radios, there was a glimmer in the morning gray. The metallic wasp took from the trees like any harmless insect. All the eyes pressed into the depths of the twisting forest watched it with much anxiety until it disappeared from view, having swept into a open window and passed the ear of the unsuspecting masked Akatsuki member.

And somewhere stood the Tsuchikage, not about to get his fingers dirty, only preferring to watch the chaos unfold like a kicked hive.

---

Dreamless.

Not a nightmare to spare the wicked…if only…

He could hear it…like the swinging pendulum of a Grandfather clock in a Brady-home. Throughout the days back in his past when he lived in Konohagakure, just another restrained genius, he'd awaken to that faint plunking of a bamboo fountain outside his room.

"Dreaming…of course," he said to himself in disappointment, harsh voice somehow kept to a low, dreary audio. His world was a blurred widescreen, soft with memory at the edges and warm. The only cold sting of reality he felt was when he looked downward to himself, somehow in full Akatsuki regalia and his current age of twenty standing in his old bedroom. It was like a reprimand for even hoping he had returned back to when all was innocent and forgiving. And that nightmare of a life he lived was nothing but a sequence of malicious images.

With not even one more glance back to the room where he had once plotted for hours his plan of treachery, Itachi sauntered through the rest of his childhood home drowning in nostalgia. From the bathroom he stitched his own wounds in, to the kitchen his mother made every meal, till he finally came to stand in the middle in his father's favorite room to meditate in.

All he could think of was how remarkable his memory was, everything came flooding back, right down to the scent he enjoyed every spring through summer that seemed to fragrant the whole house. And that's when it hit him; someone was waiting for him outside.

His feet lead him across the tatami mats until they came to an end before the sliding doors. Through the sliver a bright light shone and he basked himself in it once he drew the doors all the way open. Itachi squinted for a moment and once his eyes grew use to the otherworld brightness, a woman was kneeling in freshly plotted soil, her small shoulders rotating back and forth as she worked amicably.

Sharingan wide in peaceful surprise, they then narrowed as he exhaled her name, or what he always called her, "…okaa-san."

Mikoto paused to stare over her shoulder brightly. "Oh, Itachi-chan! Well you're back early. "

Perhaps to her in his dream, she saw him as a little child, cause how could the sight of him fully grown and in this cloak not startle her? Well…it was a dream after all. He waited for her to smile and beckon him over.

Once she did he stepped across the clean wooden deck and hopped down onto the grass. At first he wondered what she was doing, than he saw the glint of a small gardening tool in her hand. "…," he stood by her knelt form, not daring to speak, afraid she might ask him about that night.

Spading the earth, Mikoto took notice of Itachi's behavior as if it were odd and unlike him, "I know you don't enjoy helping me in the garden, you're like your father, preferring to sit inside all day and read the afternoon away," her laughter played music, so light and joyful. "Do you recall what your father tells me every early spring Itachi-chan?"

Oh yes, he recalled what his father use to say when she'd ask him to help her plant and pot- "gardening is a useless hobby, flowers only die when autumn comes," he said.

Mikoto nodded her head while smiling, "you have it right down to the scowl."

Continuing to spade, Itachi's mother who gave more of her soft features to his little brother than Itachi himself, leaned over to take hold of a dozen cupped, and already sprouted flowers. She took one by the stem and popped it out gently, before placing it in the little hole she dug.

A gust of wind took Itachi's hair, scattering his bangs across his face as he looked to his mother's back with a soft, longing expression. And there it was, that scent again…it was familiar but he couldn't recall.

"Do you…want me to help you then?" Itachi hesitantly inquired, voice a tone softer than what he used with anyone but his mother.

This was the very first time he ever offered his help to her when she was working in her garden. She use to ask but he'd turn her down and simply give the excuse he gave everyone; he had no time. Sad though, that now that she was dead and visiting him in his dreams he wanted to help her.

Mikoto wiped her brow with the clean side of her gardening glove, "my goodness what's gotten into you this morning? Finally have the time I guess…" her voice trailed off as she patted the grass by her, "sit. Your father and the clan have you working so hard, they forget you have a mother." She laughed once again. To Itachi, though it didn't show much on his face, but it was painful for him to hear her talk in the present tense…as if she were still alive outside his dreams.

Her head then turned to him and he realized she was waiting for him to say something, "…_hai_," all he could do was agree.

She took hold of another miniature spade, a small rake looking thing, and then plopped a cupped sprout in front of him. "Here you go, now this isn't any ninjutsu, there are only three steps and no chakra at all." Mikoto held her hand up, "one: dig a small hole. Two-" she held up a peace sign, "put the sprout in the hole, and three: cover it up."

Staring to her delicate fingers, what she was asking sounded simple enough. Itachi flickered his red stare down to the cupped flower, barely sprouting it's head up. What a pitiful looking little thing it was…small, thin, and a pea green.

When silence fell Mikoto started to hum, so Itachi, who knelt in his cloak and kept his hands ceremoniously on his lap, leant them forward and started. This dream was so…different than the others. Here he was, digging a hole in his backyard to plant a flower alongside his mother. And yet he only wished his other dreams were more like this.

"It's not a useless hobby you know…" said Mikoto, frowning lightly.

Itachi finished digging up some earth and stared to his mother questionably, "what do you mean, okaa-san?"

Wiping her brow once again, she smiled his way, "well your father is right, it's true a large majority of flowers die in the autumn and never grow back…" she watched Itachi yank the sprout from its cup, "And then there are those that deceive us into believing they've withered and died, when really… well they've just gone dormant in order to wait for the spring, where they'll bloom once again even more beautiful than before."

He placed the sprout in the freshly dug hole then started to cup earth and pat it down hard. Too hard it seemed because Mikoto took hold of his wrists then and stopped Itachi.

"Not so rough…" she softly scolded, her hands patted against Itachi's own to show the proper way, "if you pack the earth too hard, the flower will have no room to take root."

When he was done, Itachi kept knelt in silence. Both of his hands he held up then turned his palms upright to face him. They were dirty from patting the soil, however he did not care, cause his mother's words flowed through his mind …speaking of those flowers that don't die, but just go dormant and wait for the spring to bloom again.

"Okaa-san?" said Itachi, hands now coiling into soft fists. Itachi's head had sank forward and his bangs curtained his features out of view.

"Hmm?" Mikoto glanced up.

"…I'm sorry."

It was odd cause when he looked up to her face again, Mikoto's expression seemed to sadden for a moment. Though through this entire time she seemed not to acknowledge reality, it was painfully obvious Mikoto knew Itachi was not apologizing for patting the earth too hard on the sprout. No, he was sorry for his greatest mistake.

"I know," Mikoto then chirped, her mood not swayed.

This surprised him, but before he could say anything she held up another sprout for him to pot. "Do something about it then Itachi, being sorry is one thing, but doing something about it to make it right…well," he took the cup from her, "I'd like for you to do that."

Now he was confused and wondering if his dream really was nothing but a dream, full of incoherent nonsense and images.

Cupped sprout in hand, Itachi was in dismay to witness his mother's smiling face start to fade. And yet he didn't make a move for her, he stayed still, but this time not expressionless. Because he wore a mask of complete despair, from the delicately frowned lips to sharingan glossed over in sorrow. He wanted reality right now more than anything. This lucid dream felt like another form of punishment.

---

Charcoal shaded eyes then flicked open to stare into a sea of black. Uchiha Itachi's dream had passed out of his mind as simply as it slipped in. Now awakened, he found his face buried in Kanna's hair and his arms wrapped around her. Breathed on by winter's cold, Kanna's steady breathing synced with his own as she backed herself unknowingly more into his embrace. He heard women had a way of complicating things for a heart of war. Peace was confusing…he never really believed it up until now, when all sense seemed to twist up and knot and to disentangle them became a sudden impossible feat.

'Damn her…' his torn demon hissed, shaking its scaly paw as Itachi now stroked Kanna's cheek idly. He stared to her with puzzlement in his eyes.

A line of drool eased from a crease of her mouth, she was such a deep sleeper Itachi was surprised to find himself musing, that she'd sleep through a full-scale attack. He exhaled, brushing strands away from her face unnoticed.

Something right now, as he admired her, told him to get up, get dressed, and leave right now. Save her the awkwardness of waking up to someone like him. He didn't feel awkward though, on the contrary he felt…comfortable; lazy to wake and roll out of bed like a Monday morning back in his academy days.

Hesitant at first, Itachi ended up inching his face back into Kanna's hair, the point of his nose pressing against the nape of her neck as his arms secured about her.

Then suddenly, she stirred.

Kanna groaned with morning discomfort, perhaps also noticing her legs were hopelessly tangled in the covers. Mind groggy with sleep, she took notice of the arms wrapped about her middle and the warmth of flesh pressing along her back. She turned in Itachi's arms, onto her back and looked to him.

"…?"

After an awkward seconds pause, as if she had to rewind last night, Kanna cracked a smile. "Morning…"

"Afternoon," he corrected, voice still strong but gentle in a pillow talk tone.

Kanna's expression crinkled a bit with confusion, "it's the afternoon already?" She watched him give a simple nod. "Wow, it's been a really long time since I've slept in late." And it felt just as good as she remembered. Except this time…well, she hadn't woken up alone.

Itachi took notice that Kanna didn't act bothered or bashful to have his nose pressed onto her cheek and his arms wrapped about her middle.

"…," saying nothing, Itachi's expression did not alter from its usual indifference. However, Kanna took notice of the absence of sharingan and this puzzlement harbored in Itachi's black stare.

"Is…something the matter?" she questioned.

He shook his head slowly, "no." The recollection of their night was still curling Itachi's spine inward. "Just…thinking."

Kanna closed her eyes and yawned out to the side, sparing Itachi. "You do a lot of that, don't you?" Just sitting there, standing there…thinking in silence.

He stared to her oddly now, wondering if she disliked his ways of silent thinking.

Instantly she caught onto his internal wonderment, since by now Kanna had developed the rare skill of understanding Itachi, even though she knew a great deal of him was a complete mystery still. There was much she didn't know about him.

Kanna rolled onto her side slowly, until both her and Itachi were face to face. She stared to him in her own wonderment as her hand came up between them to trace his naked collarbone with a light finger. From the beginning, she knew there was something about him…

"I wish…I wish that I had the ability to exude the wisdom and confidence you do. How you can just say very little…and others obey without question…"

Kanna had surprised Itachi with her words. Did he exude these qualities? Cause he never really noticed. "Kanna-san, they only fear me…" he gently told back.

"No, they respect you…I respect you," both of their voices were quiet, as if another was in the room sleeping and they had the consideration to not disturb.

Itachi drew in a breath, having his eyes flicker to the ceiling momentarily. And he then came to a simple conclusion, "Kanna-san," he said, "know that you're the only person who need not fear me." Her fingers came to a pause at his lips, and he gently nibbled the tip of her ring finger.

However suddenly, there was a crash in the hallway, as if someone had dropped a plate. Itachi then gave a somber frown and shifted. He sat up slowly, but stood quickly and found the pile of their discarded clothing. Kanna sat up and watched him dress, almost mourning the need for clothes at all.

"Won't you stay longer to talk with me?" she questioned, making sure to conceal everything but her head and neck with the covers.

Itachi paused buttoning his trousers, "…you know speaking is not a preference of mine, Kanna-san."

Kanna then scowled, "so criticizing me and provoking me, which is technically talking, is a preference of yours then?"

Pants buttoned, shirt and hitai-ate bundled up in his Akatsuki cloak, Itachi gave a light shrug and there was a faint curling of his lips, as if the weight of his frown lifted, "why not?"

"…?" Kanna fell into silent astonishment, was he messing with her in a friendly manner?

Bedroom doors slid open enough that he stepped out into the hall, he glanced over his shoulder to Kanna before he walked off, "we will talk later, but right now it's best we show ourselves so there won't be any questions."

She couldn't agree more and gave him a small wave before he went off into the hall.

Itachi eased Kanna's bedroom doors shut behind him, eyes on the floor, they ascent as he pulled up his strict posture once again and that air of stoic engulfed him. But Itachi was not the only one in the dreary gray hall, he had known this right when he heard that crash of a fallen plate, that someone had been watching them.

"…."

And there he was, standing nearly a head shorter than Itachi, brown, almond shaped eyes narrowed to a most angry glare; Kouji had been bringing lunch back to his room when he heard more than one voice talking in his older sister's room. He had only meant to steal a peek of curiosity, but bit off more than he could chew.

There was such a silence that if tension manifested itself, it'd be as taut as the flesh about Kouji's knuckles. Itachi stood completely still, not swayed by the boy's obvious aura of disdain towards him. Both could hear Kanna moving about in her room, unaware of the standoff just outside her doors.

What could Itachi say to Kouji? In some way he felt like telling the kid it was none of his business, his sister's personal life. And then again he knew the eggshell situation the siblings were in. Itachi himself was probably the cherry on their dysfunctional relationship. But this wasn't Kouji's business…

And with these thoughts iron in his mind, Itachi stepped around Kouji and walked passed him with little more than a brush of his arm, as if the kid were insignificant to him. He meant to leave Kouji standing there, so perplexed he'd hopefully brush what he saw off as his imagination playing cruel tricks on him. And yet as Itachi sauntered like a specter who had merely meant to visit Kanna in her sleep, he gave Kouji some parting words, more so…a subliminal warning: "I suppose it would be a waste of breath… to warn you not to tell anyone of this?"

Kouji glared over his thin shoulder to the Uchiha who came to a pause before the hall split into two ways. And he was met by the red glint of sharingan, that stare had not become less sinister since the first time Kouji bore witness to them.

"…," the thirteen-year-old could say nothing.

He feared that man, but then again who didn't? There was just something about his eyes that told Kouji even his clan's amazing blood trait abilities stood no chance against the Uchiha abilities, so mine as well forget, pick up the broken shards of the plate, and walk away like a witness gone mute, deaf, and dumb.

And so he did. In a cold sweat, Kouji ripped his eyes from sharingan and focused on cleaning up the mess he made. All he heard was Itachi's footsteps, disappearing down the hall until they became little more than creaks in the floor that could have been just cause the house was aching with winter.

How could Kanna do this…to him…to their clan?

As if being a coward wasn't enough, now she was giving herself to some rat from another clan. This was what upset Kouji. Be it the mentality of a boy fiercely brought up to believe his clan was everything, once again his sister proved to not care about their family, their line. So much for doing all of this for him.

---

The covers and sheets of the rollout bed were dragged across the floor as Kanna bundled them up. She was about to stick them in the closet she found them, however she paused now inspecting them. Her brown eyes went serious at the sight of blood stains on the patch of sheet she had laid upon last night. A less glamorous side of romance. She decided it'd be best to try hand washing the sheets later, so folded them up and left them on their clean sides in the closet.

With a white shower robe, she made to walk out of her room and down the hall when she nearly toppled over her brother picking up a broken plate. "Ah…Otouto?"

Hand on the wall since it caught her from eating the dirty wood floors, she leant it down as she knelt, to help him pick up the plate he seemingly broke. And out of nowhere he slapped her hand away.

"Don't," she scolded, about to help him again. But Kouji not only slapped her hand away, but shoved his hand into her shoulder causing Kanna to reach back for the wall again so she wouldn't fall back. "What's the matter with you? I haven't said a word to you all morning and you're already treating me like I have the plague!"

It hurt to have her integrity questioned by her own brother, but to be pushed and shoved, and know he was literally giving her the silent treatment was torture. And yet she rebuffed her internal struggle by saying he had all reason, it was okay.

Kouji stood up, shards of the plate and fruit held in his shirt, then walked away, leaving Kanna absolutely puzzled. After he was out of sight she regained her composure in a hurry before anyone saw, and went into the bathroom.

Her shower was a very long one. Something about the hot water, white tile, and clear vinyl curtain put her into a world of thought. If Itachi pondered a lot, she would probably come in second. The smell of their lovemaking had dribbled down between her legs and was sucked down the metal drain, along with the suds from the soap and shampoo.

Engulfed in a fragrant steam, Kanna put her hands onto the slippery tile wall and put her face to the shower nozzle. She had expected Itachi to be long gone when she awoke this morning…wasn't that how all men were? They slept with a girl and like a thief in the night, took what they wanted and ran? 'And yet…he was there.' And here she thought she knew everything there was to know about how the world turned.

And then their banter…How she enjoyed that. Itachi didn't make ironic jokes, he barely humored at all but when he did, it was crisp sarcasm. She appreciated such.

Wet curtains of black hair stuck to her face, concealed her eyes, but did not shroud a smile so wide her teeth shone. Today Kanna felt she could mark as the very first where she was happy to greet the day.

H and C turned inward, the water came to a abrupt stop and she drew back the vinyl curtain. The hand towel had been folded neatly and put on the sink, she figured after Itachi left her room he washed up also. With a careful step out so she wouldn't slip and knock herself out, Kanna dried off and slipped on the shower robe.

She wiped the fogged mirror with her hand, it was a habit her mother scolded, but not like anyone staying in this manor would complain if there were fingerprints on the mirrors. The brush at some time had gone missing so she struggled for a few minutes to comb her fingers through her hair, cursing the day she became to frightened to visit the Kusa salon.

About to step out of the bathroom and get something to eat, perhaps try and have a one-sided conversation with Kouji also, Kanna stepped on something and it stuck to her wet foot. "A piece of cardboard?" she said, one hand leaning against the door way as she bent her leg up to peel the thing from the sole of her foot.

When she did, she recognized the piece of cardboard. Well at least the back of this looked like a piece of cardboard, but on the other side…

"This is Itachi's," Kanna recalled a night she went into his room with leftovers from dinner, and saw him suddenly conceal this beneath his cloak. When she had asked about it, he glared at her and basically said to mind her own business.

'What could possibly be so special about this…?' she inwardly questioned with some interest.

With a smile, thinking back on Itachi's small jest with her this morning, and how he said she was the only person that had no reason to fear him, Kanna turned the little piece of cardboard over to get a look on what was so special on the other side.

---

After his run in with Kouji, Itachi had washed up and was now in the kitchen. He lit a stove burner, took hold of a rusty tea kettle filled with sink water, and set it on the flame. Itachi was careful to roll back his broad cloak sleeves, he didn't need fire damage on this as well. Though it had been stained plenty of times with his own blood and the blood of those unfortunate others.

Winter set a new tone to the manor walls, gray light beamed in and if one approached the windows closer, they'd be blinded by the sight of clean snow. Quite different than the drear of red, orange, and brown autumn.

Itachi's purple nail polished adorn fingers slid across the kitchen counter as he stared off, recalling the time he had burned his palm with that very tea kettle's handle, and Kanna aided by holding his hand beneath running water, and telling him about her older brother. Who Itachi remembered would be a bit younger than himself. Strange…that he remembered such a fragment of information he had no use for.

"So?" came the very familiar, irritating voice of Deidara.

"So what?" Itachi tonelessly responded, not even bothering to take a glance at the blonde.

Lips tight and pushed out, Deidara sat himself before the kitchen counter, Itachi in his clear view as he waited for his water to boil. "You actually woke up late, no wonder it snowed," said Deidara, smirking and setting his chin in his hand.

Itachi's brows furrowed a bit, "don't waste my time."

"I'm not," replied Deidara, "well I won't anymore… Anyway, what do you think we should do about our little uninvited visitors hiding out there in the snow like a pack of hungry wolf for us, hmmm?"

A loud whistle irked Deidara then, it's piercing cry just about bleeding his ears. Itachi took the kettle off the burner with a rag, then tapped it's lid so the grinds wouldn't be wasted. Knowing full well he hadn't replied to Deidara yet, the Uchiha retrieved a clean cup he washed once more, before pouring himself some tea.

Deidara was now a bit more upset, having Itachi pay more attention to his lame excuse for a lunch than him. "I know you heard me Itachi, so speak, hmm!"

Lips delicately pinching the cup's rim, Itachi took a calm sip, pulled it back, and set it down on the counter. "The rock shinobi stationed outside…they do not want us." Right now, he figured.

Deidara stood up, got a cup, and helped himself to Itachi's tea. "Oh really, well do you spy any other S-class criminal around these parts, hmm?" As he poured the tea, it's steam fogged the lens of his scope. So Deidara gave it a good rub with a pinch of his cloak sleeve.

A bit disappointed that the tea he made tasted good now, Itachi stared out the windows in the kitchen over the sink. "When you and Kisame-san departed this estate, Kanna-san had been drawn away from my influence; I discovered a scout venturing near…" the Uchiha paused then, watching Tobi through the window, slip across the deck and suddenly fall head over heels out of view.

"And?" persisted Deidara, rolling his eyes at Tobi's idiocy.

Itachi's arms now slipped into the rest of his cloak so his arms could fold across his chest. "They attacked her," he finished.

The clay master scowled, upset Itachi had kept this from him, "so they want Kanna-san?" This was a rhetorical question cause Deidara quickly snorted a - "hell no, hmm. She belongs to us now."

Even if that were true, it didn't mean much. Itachi stared to Deidara's expression, firm with anger that in his absence his idol of infatuation had nearly been taken. "Deidara-san you weren't paying attention…they attacked Kanna-san, meaning they wanted her dead." And they would have succeeded if Itachi had not shown up.

"Irrelevant!" retorted Deidara, "why would the Tsuchikage bother, her clan is practically extinct, hmm." He raised his cup up and took a long swig, muscling passed the intense burn of freshly brewed tea. "Pft, besides not like that brat of a brother of her's has any hope of rekindling it. No girl would want to deal with that conceited, ill-fated emo hmm."

Tobi now walked in, he was rubbing the back of his head gingerly and groaning about asking their leader for more sturdy soles on their footwear. "What are you complaining about now Deidara-senpai?"

"Your mother," growled Deidara, his one visible eye rolling back.

Itachi was becoming fed up with this explaining. He hated the time it took to get a point across and explain a situation. "Deidara-san, they are not after Kanna-san. They want the other."

"The other?" Deidara arched a delicate eyebrow.

"Kouji-kun," suddenly filled in Tobi, his comrades now both looking to him as if he just did a back flip, "they want him… right Itachi-san?"

Both him and Deidara now looked to Itachi, who turned to glare out the kitchen window. And then he gave a single nod, answering Tobi's speculation.

"Tch," Deidara then stood up, "well then Itachi-san, we can get rid of them without having to waste my clay, or your energy hmm."

Tobi tapped in, "what about me Deidara-senpai? What won't I have to waste?"

The clay master scowled, "the strain it takes on your brain to form a single thought, hmm."

With the others having their comic go at each other, Itachi felt a cold building up in his stomach. He felt as if he were freezing once again from the inside out. The rock shinobi wanted Kouji…he was in high demand even with Akatsuki. But for more pressing matters.

"Hand the kid over then, hmm. Our problems would be solved, they kill him and Pein doesn't have to know, her initiation would be settled hmm," came Deidara's voice again, speaking what Itachi had been thinking all along.

He once again felt despicable. But if Akatsuki gave Kouji over to the rock forces waiting out there for the opportune moment to strike and take him, Kanna wouldn't have to worry about what called for her initiation.

_To cut all that binds…_

That clean, light feeling Itachi woke up with this morning had vanished, he felt dirty once again. "And what if they don't kill him, then what Deidara-san?" he questioned, voice becoming sharp with impatience because Deidara wasn't making sense fast enough to relieve Itachi of this horrid feeling.

Tobi seemed a little mournful, he did watch Kouji after all and in some way became attached to the kid.

However Deidara merely grinned and withdrew a kunai from his pouch, "well, I'll just call it a crime of passion, hmm?" To him, killing Kouji would be a great favor for Kanna, one she'd appreciate later on. What a demented logic the clay master had. But Kanna would be officially apart of Akatsuki once her brother was dead.

Unable to take anymore of this, Itachi tipped his cup in the sink and listened to the hot tea flow down the drain. "We cannot make a decision so suddenly," said Itachi, "watch them, and report to me if they become restless."

Deidara put his kunai away and sighed, knowing to argue would be a waste of time.

"You got it Itachi-san," said Tobi, now following his grumbling senpai out onto the deck.

They left Itachi alone in the kitchen, deep in himself and caught in a grip. About to walk out of the kitchen himself to check on Kouji's whereabouts, he swung the kitchen door open and watched it fan a gust across Kanna's face, expression holding the utmost of shock. White faced, wide-eyed, and sickly.

"…?" His own eyes widened a bit, he had not sensed her outside the kitchen and he knew she heard more than he would have liked. "Kan-" his calm manner of speech was silenced, having bore witness to Kanna's shock turning into anger.

"How long…" started Kanna, through tight grit teeth, "how long were you planning to keep my initiation a secret? How long!?" she shouted, nose crinkled and eyes welled up.

She had overheard their entire conversation.

"…," Itachi was unable to speak, to muster a word right now was as difficult for him as forming a expression other than indifference.

"You lied to me!! You said no harm would come to my little brother if I did everything you said!!" This betrayal came as such a shock, such a deep hurt that Kanna almost felt ill with it.

"…," Itachi said nothing.

Seething, Kanna looked to Itachi with the most painful stare imaginable, the stare of someone who had been deceived and hurt. Tight in her fist was something, and as her fingers unraveled, it floated to the ground, the picture of his family he kept in his cloak at all times. Itachi saw his young self standing alongside his mother, father, and little brother…how did she get hold of that?

"I'm leaving -- I'm taking Kouji and we're leaving!" Kanna shouted, breaking his thoughts with her words and a show of white as she veered around and hurried off. And in the rushed, soft footsteps of Kanna, Itachi's blank expression hardened and his eyebrows leaned into each other. She could not just leave, not after all this, he wouldn't allow it.

"No…I'm not going to let you," he then said, going after her in a brisk march.

"Yes you will! And if you won't, so help me God, I'll treat you no better than the rock shinobi outside waiting for my brother and I!!" Kanna screamed back at him.

Down the hall Kanna went, bent on doing what she should have tried before, escaping. Kouji's door was ahead and she made a grab for the knobs, however she felt that searing pain of a vice grip on her wrist and suddenly the knobs escaped her fingertips as Itachi pulled her towards him. However she had been prepared, probably not for him to attack her, but to punish him for this deceit. A kunai in hand, she cut the airspace between them. A vertical flash of metal missed Itachi's scowling face. He then shoved Kanna, sending her back into the kitchen in a stumble and she fell right over a chair, kunai clattering out of reach.

Itachi hadn't meant to hurt her, but was unable to approach this situation any better.

"DON'T SHOVE ME!!" Kanna screamed, pushing herself up a bit. "I'm not a monster like the rest of you -- Oh I should have known I couldn't trust _any_ of you!"

Stepping into the kitchen, Itachi meant to calm her down and help her up, however she slapped his hand back and made a break for the kitchen door. But was unsuccessful; Itachi had swung her into a door and it busted open. Kanna had to grip onto the descending stairs railing, however this manor was quite brittle and the banister snapped.

Kanna witnessed her world turn upside down and suddenly blur as she slid down the steps by her back and rolled over to hit the back of her head on a crate, upsetting it and turning it over. Dust and muck in the air, she identified with her rattled mind, the cellar.

She stood up, groggy at first but with enough control to pick up a discarded coffee can and throw it at Itachi. "Get away from me! Get away!" she shrieked like a mad woman, feeling tears of frustration surface.

Can hitting the brick walls, it rolled before Itachi's feet as he approached her. Once again they started to rough house, Kanna still bent on getting up the stairs to Kouji and Itachi attempting to restrain her without harming her anymore.

"Stop this, calm yourself," he said, wrestling her hands from his face.

"Liar! How could you do this to me?" she retorted, before he somehow turned her around and put her hands behind her back. "Argh-- I gave you that scar on your shoulder, I'll make another if you don't let me go!" She could say no more, now falling into that girl cry, where breathing was just a task.

Kanna still struggled and Itachi struggled to be gentle, "that broomstick was merely dumb luck, I will not be over powered by you," he said, suddenly pushing her up against a wall where he crushed his open mouth onto her own.

Absolutely appalled right now, she struggled her mouth free and wiped a lace of saliva from her bottom lip. In desperation to get away, Kanna shoved Itachi numerous times to get him off, but his strength kept him firm and her restrained. "No! Stop! I can't do this anymore!" In the dark of the cellar Itachi propped his solid body against Kanna as his hands took hold of her wrists and held them above her head like dungeon shackles.

Once again his warm, wet mouth covered her own; tongue forcing its way between her teeth and shoving along her own tongue. Kanna had seemed to almost return the kiss as she swallowed, but her loud groan meant retaliation.

"And what will you do?" came his toneless, heavy breathed voice as he took his mouth from hers and pressed his nose against her cheekbone, mouth kept close to her own. "What? Will you return to a life of lies, put back on those priestess robes…" sharingan burned through the cellar's darkness, "wander Kusagakure's streets like a timid stray?"

Face screwed up in agony, Kanna's gasps interrupted her hard cry. Even though Itachi was dead-on correct, she wasn't about to admit that she could settle with that sad excuse for a lifestyle he just broke down. And as his hands crushed her wrists, in a cackle of muscle and bone Kanna shouted -- "fuck you!"

A swell of desperation to make her stay and anger that she disrespected him, his next kiss sucked the air out of Kanna. His lips that had been soft last night, were taut and hard against her own as he yanked her hips forward and she pulled against him. There was a loud banging now as Kanna's body hit into the wall behind her. And as she kept turning her head this way and that to avoid his mouth, Itachi unbuttoned his cloak and discarded it to the dirty cellar floor.

"No -- I can't do this, it's over Itachi!" she tried, avoiding his mouth one more time, only to have his rough breathing by her ear.

"What…what's over?" he pursued, knowing her answer would be a difficult one.

Yes, what was over? Kanna found herself pondering this as the need to get up those stares was smothered by the want to have Itachi. She felt almost evil for taking the hem of his pallid purple mesh top, and pulling it up and over his head to reveal his magnificent upper body.

Itachi gave a grunt of approval as he sucked on her throat, surprised he was still having to fight her even though she seemed willing to go along with this.

"Liar. Liar…I hate you…I hate you!" she huffed, watching, propped up against the cellar wall as Itachi hurried to undo the buttons of his trousers.

In the cellar their harsh breathing and the rummaging of their brawl was becoming more urgent for something else. Itachi was not undoing his pants quick enough, so Kanna, whose hands slid down his toned abdomen in a need to feel, aided.

She felt her blood run blistering hot once his pants were unfastened. Once again that V of muscle lead down, cut off half way by his boxers. Lips swollen and red from their grappling kisses, Itachi thrust his hips forward to knock Kanna's backside into the wall repeatedly. Her hands took grip of his hair that had fallen out of it's ponytail and she looked to him with tear blurred eyes as he ground his pelvis into her own.

Hips once again yanked forward, Kanna felt her neck sustained some kind of whiplash in the process and suddenly she was whirled around to face the beam of gray light that touched down onto the cellar floor, merely illuminating the crate in front of her.

Hands fastened onto the wooden crates corner, she could hear Itachi's frustrated breathing as he slid his pants and boxers down to his knees in a hurry. Kanna peered over her shoulder to his shadow shrouded, aroused, naked body. Her teeth grit with wonderment, where had all the purpose to get up those stairs gone?

A sudden exposure came when Itachi, too impatient to remove the bathrobe, pushed the draping cloth up over Kanna's backside and rested them in a bundle on her lower back. Her underwear pulled down, he would then grind his bareness onto her own.

Her legs quivered, lip trembling as she stood bent over the crate in the cellar. Still pondering why. However it came to a sudden halt as Itachi thrust himself forward, shoving into her warmth with such a impact, the hand she used to rub her running nose slapped onto the crate for support. Knees locked, fingertips tight on the wood, Kanna's head hung low between her shoulders and bobbed up and down to Itachi's fierce, strong rhythm.

Outside the cellar the others were on the deck, unaware of the bodies in the cellar, of the one mercilessly thrown over a crate and willingly being taken by the other. The moans, both equally shared in number, echoed in the cellar like calls of agony. And Itachi continued to work Kanna's body over, and it seemed endless to her, watching the light of the door come in and out of view as she was rocked back and forth.

And then in a simultaneous call of appreciation for the other in incoherent words, the ruckus came to a stop. Itachi still standing, rested his sweat slicked upper body against Kanna's back. His bangs were webbed across his cheek and sharingan had stayed lit as he rested himself inside of her.

"Huf…huf…" panting, Kanna groaned and felt his release and her excitement once again. "I won't do it…and I won't let you or Deidara do it for me," she said, weakly.

Itachi had seemed off in another world, but then came to and kissed her shoulder, expression not readable. "There has to be…another way," he murmured, eyes glazed over in a pleasurable exhaustion. He did not know what other way there was, but he would figure it out somehow.

For a few more minutes did he rest on her frame, bent over that crate in the first place they had their real, true encounter. This was the place he had her bound and gagged, this was the place he left her and waited for her to follow him up into the manor they would come to understand each other.

Itachi's hands rubbed her hips idly, taking in her scent just before withdrawing himself and setting his back against the wall, where he pulled his pants up and slid down to rest in a slouching sit. Kanna wearily joined him, hesitant at first but she rested her head against his arm and stared into the dark of the cellar with him.

'A part of me wants to go through with this, but then another…wants to flee and run,' like back during the massacre, to run and hide for her life.

From the corner of his eye Itachi watched Kanna ease the robe's cloth back down over her lower half. He wanted to know what was going on in that head of hers, did she…not trust him anymore? Well, she had every reason not to.

"Kanna-san --?"

There was a sudden boom and the entire mansion shook, right down to the cellar they were in. The walls trembled, old pots and the other crates fell over and smashed onto the dirty ground and Itachi and Kanna both ducked as scraps of wood fell in.

"An explosion!?" Kanna exclaimed, eyes wide with fright and confusion.

Itachi was not flustered like Kanna, more so suspicious of who did the explosion. Deidara was a fool, but he wasn't careless with his jutsu and would not accidentally blow up this estate. So he went to the most logical reason, "Kanna-san, I want you to go upstairs…"

"What?" she looked to him questionably. "What's going on?"

An answer had come to the dilemma at hand. Itachi stood and fixed himself, Kanna did the same. "Kanna-san, once you get upstairs, find your brother and hide…" his tone didn't seem anymore urgent, but he sounded very serious.

"Hide? But -- I don't know what's going on!"

Taking her hand, Itachi and Kanna ascent the cellar steps. Once in the kitchen, it became obvious the living room had gone up in the explosion because the hall that lead to it was completely caved in. Smoke and dust thick in the air, Itachi ignored the need to cough. There were voices all around them, unfamiliar and familiar.

Kanna circled in place, looking around but was unable to see through the aftermath cloud of the explosion. Suddenly turned around, Itachi peered over his collar. "Hide," he continued, "and once it seems safe…flee this manor Kanna-san."

….flee?

Taken aback, she gawked at Itachi. "You…you want me to run?"

Sharingan were firm, as were his hands on her shoulders. Yes, he wanted her to run. The rock shinobi obviously were willing to fight the Akatsuki, and it would suffice as a good distraction for her and Kouji to run to the nearest village. Out of danger from the rock shinobi…out of the danger Akatsuki presented to Kouji's life.

Still Kanna stood rigid, not believing he was giving up on her. "But…but--"

_BOOM!_

Kanna stumbled backward, Itachi remained unmoved.

"Go, Kanna-san. Hurry before the rock forces spot you…"

The explosion she had just felt was of Deidara's kindling and she could swear that his laughter followed. Outside the windows, she saw the bright orange of fire, followed by another earth quake. When Kanna looked back to Itachi, he had already turned around and was making his way to the doors that lead out to the courtyard.

"Itachi-san!" Kanna called to him.

And he paused, before looking over his shoulder. "…," not another word did he share with Kanna. Instead he calmly walked out onto the deck, down the steps, and out of view.

'Flee…?' brown eyes wide with the easy prospect of escaping while Akatsuki were distracted, she found herself hurrying to the courtyard doors to look for Itachi. "Itachi-san! Itachi-san?" she called, looking in every direction.

Frantic now, out onto the deck she went, still calling for him. How could he tell her to run after all this? Wasn't this his mission? And yet…wasn't this more than what she was asking for, a window of escape had turned into a wide open door of freedom.

Somewhere Deidara detonated another explosion and Kanna stumbled about the courtyard. "Itachi-san! Wait -- there has to be --?" Ahead, perched on the brick walls that surrounded the courtyard, a person was perched. Kanna felt her heart race with hopes it was Itachi. However when the smoke cleared, she saw a rock shinobi surveying the area.

"Oh…no," eyeing him, she prayed he wouldn't look her way before she fully backed up into the manor again. But it was too late and he pointed at her. "Ah!"

Veering around, Kanna rushed into the manor and down the hall. A rafter had fallen through a wall from the living room and she jumped over it before skidding on the dusty wooden floors and taking a corner. Kouji's room before her, she slid the doors open with a loud crack. "KOUJI!" she shouted.

He was standing before his screen doors, watching the flashes of explosions and shadows moving through the smoke. Once he heard Kanna call to him, Kouji turned around and watched her take his hands. "…!" He yanked them back and looked at her as if she had no right to touch him. Kanna paid no mind to this, it didn't matter if he liked her touching him or not because they had to hide and they had to hide now.

"We have to go," Kanna told him, now starting to drag Kouji off.

His feet pressed hard onto the wooden floors as he refused to be taken anywhere by her. Kanna had succeeded in dragging Kouji into the corridor where he slapped her hands off of his. This was not the time, she knew this and was about to open her mouth and shout at him. But when her mouth opened, another's voice took over.

Both the Haru siblings heard a rock shinobi call out, down the hall one stood, pointing there way.

"We need to hide, right now!" exclaimed Kanna.

Kouji didn't argue. He went along with her. Down the hall, through a few rooms and avoiding the part of the manor that had caved in and was smoldering, they came across a room full of furniture. Whoever lived in here obviously didn't live here through the year because there were tea tables, bed frames, chairs, and shelves standing without order and covered in white sheets. Across the wooden floors they ran, Kanna located a closet hidden behind a large chest of drawers and pushed it a bit away, just enough so she could slide the closet doors open and they could slip in.

The rock shinobi were closing in, Kouji and Kanna could hear their voices and the other rooms being raided. "Otouto," Kanna whispered, both her and her little brother wedged as far into the closet as possible, surrounded by boxes of paperwork.

"…?"

Once he looked to her in question, she bit her bottom lip. "Itachi-san has given us permission to take any opportune moment available to us, and make a run from this estate…"

The mentioning of Itachi had Kouji scowl and he looked away from Kanna strictly to peer out the sliver of the closet. He had yet to see the rock shinobi close in on their room.

Both Haru siblings squat, they silenced their breathing and listened very, very carefully. And as the rock shinobi came through those doors, bodies nothing but silhouettes in a fire that they had started in another room, Kanna's brown eyes widened realizing that this very moment happened years ago…

She recalled Kyuusai's death, his body destroyed beyond repair of even their blood trait…and how she cried over him as if he were a parent more than a brother. 'It's that night all over again…'

They drew closer and the closer they got, the more Kanna felt herself receding into the wall. She pressed so hard against it, she was in discomfort. The sound of their shoes, the glint of their kunai, and that unmistakable glyph on their hitai-ate…She was so scared and there were only two of them!

'Don't look in here…don't look in here…don't look in here!' her mind shouted.

The darkness in the closet became no more as the thin incision of light was tore open by a pair of hands.

"I found them Kino-san!" called the rock shinobi who discovered Kanna and Kouji.

Unlike his sister, Kouji did not back into the closet wall. Instead he stared up wide-eyed, he also recalled Kyuusai's death and the familiarity of this scene. That shock alone had him inoperative of fleeing.

Kino who had been checking behind a pile of chairs now walked over to the closet where he saw the two figures, knelt on the floor, looking like startled children. And really that's all they were, two scared kids. He was almost sorry to find them, disappointed they weren't more skilled in hiding.

"Take the boy, I'll dispose of the girl," he said, to the other rock-nin.

"Hai," he responded.

"NO!" Kanna shouted, reaching for Kouji.

She had taken hold of his left hand and the rock-nin grabbed onto his right. At first there was a tug-o-war with the youngest Haru, however Kanna lost grip cause her hand was sweaty and Kouji was pulled out of her grasp.

Kicking and swinging his arms, Kouji attempted to fight the rock-nin off, but was then hit with a paralysis ninjutsu. He dropped to the floor like a sack of rice and was then slung over the rock shinobi's shoulder. Kanna gave off a ear splitting scream of agony as she stood up and tried to push by Kino.

"NO! NO -- GIVE HIM BACK TO ME!!" she cried.

In her attempt to push by Kino, he did a roundhouse kick to her chest and she flew back into the box and paper filled closet with a loud bang. As she laid on her side, pushing her way up, Kanna's world came crashing in when the rock-nin with Kouji ran out of the room.

"Don't take him, that's my little brother!"

"Stop screaming girl, you're hurting my ears," told Kino, closing in on the closet.

Scared out of her wits, Kanna backed into the corner of the closet, back against the wall and hiding behind her knees. She was conscious to the fact that hiding like this, being fearful, would only mean she'd lose Kouji. And yet…and yet she couldn't push herself to do anything.

Face sweat slicked, eyes wide and trembling -- "what do you want with him?!"

Kino sighed, not knowing the answer. "If I knew, I wouldn't be able to tell you…" and he knelt, staring to Kanna with curious eyes. She didn't look like him, like her father. Kino did not see the green, narrowed eyes or the chiseled jaw. There was not a flicker of a killer in her and now he felt discouraged that it would be so easy to kill her.

"Kanna-hime," he spoke her name this way, because the fact that she was the granddaughter of the long passed leader of the Haru clan, and she was the daughter of his Shadow. "I do not see your father in you…it's what will make this hard for me to kill you."

Kill…her?

"I don't want to die…" she whispered, wishing the wall behind her would give way and she could tumble to safety.

He didn't want to kill her either. But it was his mission to dispatch Haru Kanna, by orders of her father. With a heavy sigh he stood up and reached to the katana latched across his back. In the glimmer of the flames closing in on them, Kanna watched the blade slide out of it's sheath. There is no fear like that of being helpless, while there is murderous intent right in front of you with a weapon that never tires or has mercy….

Entire body trembling in a cold sweat, eyes so wide they were perfect circles, Kanna didn't want to die. She was afraid of where she would go when she died, she feared not amounting to anything in the afterlife…she feared…letting down her clan again. When that blade made contact with her neck and when she screamed in agony, it would only prove she was nothing but a coward. 'I don't want to die…' Because…because…she didn't want her clan to fade this way.

Like a guillotine blade, the katana came down hard and swift in a monstrous hiss. Kino watched it's blade make contact with the girl's neck, bare to him in a bow. Once it touched the nape of her neck, her strands of black hair fluttered to the ground and her flesh cut like butter. When her spinal chord took to the blade, that was where he felt the impact. But it was so quick and precise that it was over in a second.

A plunk sounded off as her head hit the floor and he watched it roll to his feet.

….

"What the--?" Kino's expression stiffened when the girl's head and her body limp over itself, turned a dark green and where it once was, now laid a heap of thick plant leaves and blades of grass. "It's a clone!" But where did the real one go?

The smoke in the room was thick, it burned his nostril with it's stinging stench and then suddenly another fragrance overwhelmed it. A very sweet scent, like that of blossoms. He blinked now feeling light touches of something. From seemingly nowhere plum colored petals fell, they were the cause of this fragrance.

"Uh-?!" eyes…Kino felt eyes on his back.

Turning around then, there stood the Tsuchikage's daughter, staring right up at him, her brown eyes hallowed of fear.

"A veggie clone? Your death would have been painless, but now I can't promise you anything," he said.

About to raise his sword arm, Kino choked on his own saliva, feeling sick to his stomach. "Wha-what did you do to me?!"

It started from the core of his being and moved out to his limbs, a uncontrollable tremble. Unable to move, his muscles shook on their own. Kanna watched as her jutsu destroyed Kino's nervous system, the very fragrance he breathed was a natural nerve agent. All at once he hit the floor in a loud thud and started to convulse wildly.

"My jutsu, the fragrance you are breathing at this very moment, is a class of phosphorus-containing organic chemicals," she informed simply. "You see, it disrupts the mechanism by which nerves transfer messages to your organs. The disruption is caused by blocking acetylcholinesterase, an enzyme that would normally relax the activity of neurotransmitters..."

Pupils contracting, Kino's eyes rolled back to the whites and a thick foam oozed from his nostrils and mouth. He continued to twitch and jerk, even dry heave before his body started to lock up it's joints and his respiratory muscles ultimately lost control. Kanna watched this rock-nin basically die by own body asphyxiating itself.

What was left of Kino was nothing more than a corpse on it's side in a circle of purple petals, fingers crinkled in a catatonic freeze. Kanna swallowed, eyeing him as she stood unaffected by the jutsu thanks to her bloodline. She also seemed unaffected by the life she took just now. Probably because she was so bent on surviving, all fear and doubt had been swept aside.

"Kouji, I need to get him back," she said, watching as the fire in the halls approached.

She moved out of the room as it started to burn and went into the room she had slept in the entire time she was in this manor. In front of a chest of drawers, Kanna removed a stack of folded clothes and a bundled bag of something. On the bed she set everything. And that everything happened to be her old shinobi gear Itachi had brought back from Kusagakure, along with her and Kouji.

In the bundled bag was her kunai pouch, her shuriken holster, among a few other things. In the light of the spread fire, Kanna removed the bath robe. Over her underclothes she slipped up a pair of elastic, black shorts, followed by a stone gray skirt to cover them. She pulled a black wife-beater tank top over her head and secured a stone grayed, thick clothed corset about her middle, buttoning it in the front. With a pair of thick soled, knee high shinobi boots and fishnet gloves that went up to the bend of her biceps and forearm, the only thing she had left to put on was her hitai-ate.

Paper-patched doors catching flame, she found her grass hitai-ate near them. "…," she couldn't tell herself any words of reassurance as she stared to the glimmering metal plate, all she could do was look to her reflection before bringing out a kunai.

In one quick spark flying strike, Kanna struck the point of her kunai through the grass glyph of her hitai-ate. Maybe she was not a real member of Akatsuki…maybe in all honesty she couldn't make it even if she tried. But this was the first time in a long time she felt like she belonged somewhere, was apart of something.

"I will not fade, and…I won't allow my clan to fade."

Both hands holding onto the stone gray tails of her hitai-ate, she flicked her hair down and tied it on. Once she regained her composure, she fixed it a bit, almost in awe she was wearing all this again. It would probably be her last time wearing this…her last day of anything.

* * *

a/n: Well here it is, 1 out of the 3 chapters I have left. So 2 more to go until the end. This took me longer because of school, senior year and all I'm just drowning in homework. Anyway, just wanted to say I'm still getting votes on whether to make a 2nd arc of this story that could contain only 10 more chapters, or leaving this end where it will. So for those of you who want to read more or would prefer me not to make a second arc, send me your point of view via review, or go on my profile and find my myspace link and private message me there. Right now the votes are leaning in one favor. 

Hmmm...well I'd like to thank my number 139 reviewer who basically sent me a "UPDATE NOW" review. rofl Thank you BloodThirstyFan. And also to Vic for reviewing every chapter, and Ayla for ALMOST reviewing every chapter. rofl And also thank you to those people who review all the chapters and I'm just too dumb to remember their names. Lol This will be the very first fanfiction I've EVER finished. Cause I will finish it XD.

-connie

p.s. don't you hate when you only notice errors AFTER you've posted a chapter? Yeah, I hate it about 17 times over, and surely this chapter will be one more. Those damn errors that slip passed my eyes! rofl And also since Pein has been revealed in the manga, I won't continue to substitute Pein with "Rei".


	19. home grown

"…_and with plot comes meaning, a meaning to live, a meaning to love, and a meaning to die."_

The trees, they passed by like nameless, featureless faces in the blur of a cosmic city. Barks of white, brown, and gray created this impenetrable hall of obscurity amongst splashes of milk white that seemed to coat her entire runway. The sound of explosive jutsu, cackling laughter, and the swell of gasping fire balls extinguished the further she ran from the manor. It was not sense that shoved her on, helped her up from her frantic trips, or poorly landed jumps, only the inescapable cry of duty to her clan.

"Huf…huf…huf-!"

Kanna heard the theme for this moment, a rhythmic symphony of her rapid heartbeat, gasps of pre-exhaustion, and the very whimper of frustration chirping up her throat.

Find him. Before its too late. Now, not later!

It was obvious they wanted Kouji alive, this was what Kanna concluded as she passed the border of indiscriminate trees, to a segregation of bamboo riddled land. Unlike the trees, the bamboo were so green, such a emerald, one could get lost in all the likeness. Even the snow could not hide such a green, all it could do was lessen the glow.

Kanna came to a abrupt stop, the soles of her boots pressing deeply into the snow with crisp crunches. Looking around, there was no way for her to pick out a direction in confidence. This was frustrating. "No…no, where to go?" she panted through her chattering teeth, hands ascending her form to grab at her hairs' roots, as if attempting to yank an idea.

Right - Left?

Stepping in circle after circle, Kanna was pacing a hole in the snow, up until the earth began to rattle. Pebbles that laid on the soil that she uncovered from beneath the snow with her frantic pacing, began to jump. And in the distance, coming in on her in a perfect multilane spiral, what were rock-nin tremors. The snow rose up with the burrowing shinobi and Kanna's gut dropped, heavy from the sudden swell of fear.

'I have to get off the ground…!' she thought frantically, 'they can capture me in a head hunter jutsu or just pull me completely underground!'

They were unable to see while performing this jutsu, all they relied on were vibrations alone. So quickly Kanna fastened her left and right hands onto two thick bamboo stalks parallel to one another. Right foot wedging in a crack, she shimmied up like a spider with no web. Once she was at least fifteen feet off the ground, Kanna came to a pause and looked down cautiously, her form a perfect x in the bamboo canopy.

Once again all she heard was her breathing. The tremors had came to a stop.

"Huf…huf," she panted, then gulped hard while a bead of sweat gathered above her brow.

All was quiet, once again the brawl going on at the manor could be heard, but with the distance it was nothing more than a soft hum of chaos.

Neck sticking out, she strained to peer around at the stillness in white-knuckle paranoia. However bushels of bamboo leaves blocked her view of the ground. She strained some more. And in her awkward lean, at the corner of Kanna's left eye she saw the glimmer of a loose kunai sticking out of her pouch.

'No…!' inside her head the plea echoed, but the weapon paid no heed.

It tumbled from her pouch and like a falling star, glimmered in the early morning light in it's decent before hitting the snowy ground, point first.

_BAM!_

In a massive show of mud and snow, the earth below her burst open to reveal three rock-nin; all looked about in different directions, till one picked up the kunai, flipped it in his hand and instantly looked up to where Kanna was positioned.

"Looks like we got a unknown attempting to escape," said one, tapping his own hitai-ate to signify that Kanna, whose own hitai-ate was freshly struck through, signified she was of Akatsuki. Out of the group of rock-nin, one took out a field hatchet and hacked through one of the bamboo stalks keeping Kanna up.

"Ah…!" she cried, taking desperate hold of the other stalk. With all her weight, Kanna was unable to hold herself up and began to slide down the bamboo stalk. But she grasped another, now awkwardly trying to steady herself.

Once again Kanna formed a perfect swaying x in the canopy, until wave after wave of shuriken shot her way. The rock-nin heckled, now having who they thought was a Akatsuki, nothing more than target practice. Needing to get out of range of their projectile weaponry, Kanna shimmied further up. Bit by bit she raised in altitude, being stung along the legs by the flying stars, until she became aware that the closer the stalks were to the sun itself, the more flimsy their tops were. Caught in a painful full leg split, thankful for the sense and class to wear shorts beneath her skirt, Kanna kept high up out of range.

The safe feeling was short lived though, for the rock-nin dispersed and joyfully cut down short bamboo stalks, and like spears, hurled them up at the shadow in the canopy. They flew passed Kanna's head with shrill flute cries and she broke out in a scared sweat. From one pair to another pair of high top bamboo stalks Kanna retreated, until it seemed she might be impaled by misstep alone. However, a reach away, a bamboo spear that had been wrongly thrown, was stuck in a bushel of branches. Kanna took hold of it, thankful for whichever rock-nin it was who had horrible aim.

With a thick, long stalk now in her possession, she involuntarily fell from her perch, rock-nin having cut through what supported her.

'Without steady chakra control, my taijutsu won't be very effective,' yes, taijutsu was not like riding a bike. Even if you could remember every step, every position, and every strike, Kanna's lack of exercise had her muscles and reflexes like that of an amateur's. 'No matter, this-' she eyed the bamboo stalk in hand as she made a rough landing, 'it will have to do.' It would be the hard strike she needed to at least knock them off her trail.

The anticipation to try it out was not long. From her right and left she was forked between rock-nin. In high hopes, praying, and not trying to think about the fact her losing her life was the highest it had ever been, in one foul swoop, with full momentum of her body twisting with the bamboo stalk, Kanna swung it over head and with a piercing crack, sent the rock-nin to the ground in a sideways domino effect. She had literally smacked the sweat off of their faces with such a hit.

Barely anytime to exhale, a clone exploded and it's conjurer swept right beneath Kanna, a tight leather glove with brass knuckles at the ready. Kanna gave a frightful cry in shock, but when the rock-nin's fist made contact with the side of her face, Kanna's cry was silenced and the impact tossed her. She rolled across the ground and clattered to a stop at the base of rogue rock.

"Gah…" side of her face momentarily swollen, she groaned and wearily gained her composure. This kind of pain, she had forgotten. It hurt so bad she wondered how she ever endured it before.

Bamboo stalk still in hand, Kanna swung it. Unfortunately the brass knuckle-bearing rock-nin had jumped back from what he thought was out of range. However, he misjudged - Kanna jerked the bamboo stalk back beneath her arm and jabbed it forward with vengeance, to crack him on the forehead like a eight ball.

He fell head over heels into the snow, knocked out cold.

Kanna panted, once again her limbs felt heavy. The side of her face that had been punched, was no longer swollen or tender. But the new memory of it's pain had her only for a instant, reconsider what the hell she was doing right now.

'I…I could just go back…without Kouji,' she found herself thinking. Eyes heavy as she now went a bit limp over the bamboo stalk she had stuck in the snow like a walking stick, Kanna could hear her selfish ways. 'Its not…it's not even like he…loves me.' They weren't siblings anymore it seemed, their relationship had never been the same since the massacre. She thought this over and over in the middle of the bamboo forest as the last two remaining rock-nin reevaluated their situation.

Kanna so wanted to go back, so she could live another day, so she could see that one man again. But she couldn't. She wouldn't.

"Pay attention kid!" a rock-nin's battle call broke her out of her zone-out.

A second opponent, the rock-nin came up behind Kanna so fast she shrieked and in reflex jabbed the stalk beneath her arm again, shoving the hatchet chopped point into his belly. He gurgled up blood as he raised a trembling arm, hatchet in grasp, as Kanna desperately attempted to shove the stalk deeper so he'd lose grip on it.

"Aah-!"

The steely, broadside of the field hatchet chopped into the top of Kanna's shoulder, driving so deep that she heard it hit bone. Pain so excruciating, her teeth grit and grated against each other, as she bled like a popped fruit, blood bubbling and oozing around the penetrating blade.

Over and over again she drove the stalk deeper, shoving and shoving until with a twist of the stalk, the rock-nin gave a death cry and fell backwards, stalk stickling out of him like a toothpick.

Kanna stumbled forward, clutched her shoulder, and felt blood spurt between her fingers. "Oh my god - what about chivalry?" A second or two passed before her blood ran cold and the large gash on her shoulder closed up without a scar in it's wake. Huffing, Kanna shook her head, the world was going in and out of focus, at first she thought fog was moving in, but with her hands opening and clutching out in front of her, blood slicked, she realized the blood loss was taking effect.

Tired…she already felt so tired.

To her exhausting dismay, the ground quaked beneath her feet. A ninjutsu manipulated the earth right before Kanna; a large chunk of rock shot up, punching her chest and pushing her up into the sky as it rose. The wind had literally been knocked out of her, but she came into senses quick enough to roll to the side and fall back to the ground.

A heel came down in means to crush her head like a cantaloupe; Kanna rolled out of the way and attempted to crawl and hide behind the newly formed peak sticking up out of the ground. But she got a foot to the back and rolled over once again in agonizing pain, merely to see a kunai point coming down.

With a shriek of splitting wood, the rock-nin was discouraged that Kanna had grabbed onto another stray bamboo stalk and held it up, nullifying his blades effect by having it lodge into the stick.

"Damn!" he bit, while attempting to pull his blade back.

Teeth grit, Kanna worked against his pull and ended up bringing her leg between them and giving him a good push kick to the groin. Up and shakily standing, she realized her last opponent.

Taste of blood in her mouth, having been hit so hard by that ninjutsu she nearly bit all the way through her tongue. The thought of blood in her mouth made Kanna queasy, and yet she burped out a bubble of it and shook her head to bring her current situation back into focus.

On a standoff, she felt the last rock-nin measuring her up - A earth release brought up a mud wall, blinding Kanna to her opponent who took his advantage and burrowed beneath her, to come right up behind Kanna and snag her in a choke hold. Weapon falling from her hand, it tumbled out of reach in the struggle.

"Le…let me…go!" Kanna gagged out. Frantically with her chilled hands she tried to pull his arm from around her throat, but he proved too strong. "Argh…!" teeth grit, face turning a brilliant shade of red, her eyes filled with blood, vessels popping from lack of oxygen. Kanna could hear the flesh of her neck stretching and crackling, she was now, for the first time, witnessing tunnel vision.

Not wanting to die, even though she felt so tired, so exhausted, Kanna pushed consciousness on herself. Head straining to crank forward over his bicep, as her feet just barely dangled above the snow, she gave the one choking her a three count headbutt, though using the back of her head. With the grip on her neck loosened, Kanna raised her leg in a high sky kick, nailing the guy in the face with the front of her shin. For some odd reason, all she could think about was how she hadn't stretched before this and how sore she was going to be if she survived.

Kanna fell to freedom, all the blood and oxygen rushed back to her brain in a dizzying effect. It must have been instinct then that said, give this shinobi no time to pull out another jutsu. Grabbing onto the bamboo stalk, like a oversized board with a nail hammered at the end, Kanna stood up, swung the stalk over her head once again, and struck her asphyxiate on the side of his skull, his own kunai pierced right through. Like a bullet, the impact of the stalk driven kunai, blew out a piece of skull; blood and matter sullied the white snow.

"What the-!" Kanna's eyes widened, having been wearily standing one minute victorious, and suddenly she was yanked down into the ground by her very ankles.

She struggled to take grip of anything, but the snow had it all slippery so she took hold of the recently dead rock-nin's leg. His heavy weight barely kept her from being drug under. "Err…!" teeth grit, there were claw marks in the snow and dirt as she struggled against this fourth, sly rock-nin. Red cheeks glistening with tears, bloodshot eyes wide with fright, inch by inch Kanna was disappearing, her distorted features shadowed by the rim of the tunnel.

There was a sudden pain that had Kanna scream so loud snow fell from the bamboo tops. The remaining rock-nin beneath the earth, cut her tendons and she kicked wildly. With no way to make her kicks solid with the control of her foot cut, Kanna stared weakly around. Yes, she did want to see Itachi coming her way. Out of nowhere just appearing to save her like he had done that one time. She longed for that relief, the feel of safety, and being protected. But the longer she fought to stay on the earth's surface, the more she realized Itachi wasn't going to come and save her, or Kouji.

"Huh-!" Kanna was sucked down the hole, like a rabbit caught by a badger.

The kill-zone was quite a red splotch on the snowy canvass. One rock-nin laid unconscious, while two were dead as door nails. All seemed very silent. The large hole in the earth was as quiet as a grave, until -

Just like the rock-nin had burst through the earth, a massive vine the width of a junior aged oak tree, shot up and Kanna fell from it once it immerged. She hit the ground like a raggedy doll and rolled, leaving the last rock-nin of this unit stuck to the great vine by an arm length, dark thorn, that went through his back and came out his abdomen.

On the snow she laid, exhaustion having took hold of her unexercised body. Back on the cold snow, Kanna felt her skin was so hot with sweat, she'd surely melt through all this. A horizontal crease wrinkled the middle of her forehead as she squinted, blood in her eyes now being withdrawn and the tingling in her feet coming back as her tendons healed.

"Tired…I'm already so…tired," she muttered to herself, now wiping a sweat bead from her brow, not wanting it to run into her vision. Disappointed in herself, when she should have been astounded that she took out a unit of chunin rock-nin - 'Kouji…where have they taken him?' Where was the rock shinobi that took him? The lands of Earth Country were so vast, she felt even more helpless and weary. And as the gray morning sky went ablaze from someone's fire jutsu back at the manor, Kanna flopped onto her side wearily. Ear pressed to the snow, her fingers sifted through it so her flesh could feel the soil. Eyes glazed over, already worn from her first brawl, Kanna listened.

This wasn't a conscious thing as much as it was a strange instinct. Ear on the ground, eyes easing to a half-lidded, aimless stare, she listened.

And somehow, someway she heard quick moving footsteps. Even though she couldn't see them, she knew it was the rock-nin she was looking for. From the sound of his heavy running, Kouji was still on his back and he was about half a mile away from where she laid.

'Get up…get up lazy,' she thought, somehow trying to make light of her position. 'Get up.- Gah, just get up!'

_Back at the manor… _

Like a predator bird, Deidara's clay masterpiece swept down, splitting a squad of fleeing rock shinobi into two. Yet they all were together in their deaths. Deidara had opened up a small pouch during the aerial dive and from the pouch fell his malicious spider bombs. They crawled and clamped onto any limb they could and under his command, simultaneously exploded.

"_Katsu_!" Deidara sinisterly grinned, in the bright show of blood and thunder.

His explosions, created from volatile clay ranging from C1 to C4, shook the very atmosphere itself, so much his bird was tossed off course in the bombs' breath and he yanked it back into control, nearly losing Tobi in the process.

"Deidara-senpai!" Tobi called, hands and feet flat on the back of Deidara's clay bird, chakra like super glue, and yet he was still scared out of his wits. "Please be more cautious, I nearly fell off and Itachi-san is somewhere down there - you might blow him up in the process of your madness!"

"Pft, so what hmm?" snorted the clay master.

He peeked over the side of his clay bird almost eagerly, the possibility of accidentally blowing Uchiha Itachi sky high in the crossfire, excited him so. However, a massive fireball tore through the forest below, leaving a ember riddled crater half a mile wide, telling Deidara, Itachi wasn't careless or ignorant enough to get annihilated by friendly fire. Swiping blonde locks aside, with a few crisp clicks Deidara zoomed in on Itachi as the smoke settled.

"He's just standing there…" relayed Deidara to Tobi.

Further peering, instead of Itachi actually fighting now, he was merely parrying, evading, and casting genjutsu on the rock-nin, actually having them cut their own partners throats. This to Deidara was proof Itachi's art, his jutsu, didn't even come close to the magnificence of his clay art.

"Itachi-san is barely lifting a finger," said Tobi, as the bird swooped down to circle the area like a vulture, waiting for more rock-nin to pop up. "The Uchiha are quite amazing, yes?" he said, in a tone of far too much appreciation for anyone other than his senpai it seemed, cause instantly Deidara thwacked Tobi upside the head.

"Please, he's nothing more than a Illusionist, mine as well place dear Itachi-san in a circus or side show performing his weak magic tricks, hmm." At the corner of his eye, Deidara glared at Itachi with much disdain.

Itachi himself barely paid any mind to those up in the sky. He did have to be wary though of Deidara's jutsu. Leave it to him to set trip mines when Itachi was taking care of the ground unit. He stood in the middle of the large crater he created with his clan's grand fireball jutsu. The new dirt was snow-free, and alit by the remaining embers. Itachi was at a pause, measuring up the kill zone. Not for a instant did he lose track of the rock-nin like they thought, scurrying around in the cast of their camouflage jutsu.

They should have known better, that with sharingan, it wasn't as much seeing a persons full form, a flick of hair, or a limb sticking out of a fox hole that could give them away. It was their very chakra alone, that aura of life energy that was about a person, even when they slept.

Arms at his sides, back lightly pressed up against the rough bark of a scorched tree, Itachi's eyes flicked from area point to area point, keeping an eye on the scurrying rock-nin, but not enough so they could suspect anything. He counted at least ten attempting to circle him at this very moment.

And yet even in the midst of battle, Itachi was calm, seemingly unmoved by bloodshed or frustrated when his aim was just a tad off, thanks to unavoidable issues, such as a fallen tree branch. Beneath his cloak, at the stir of a breeze the points of kunai revealed themselves sandwiched between his fingers. All in a few moments as the rock-nin were granted clearance to attack, Itachi closed his eyes, the point of a kunai piercing his arm.

In a flurry of wings, feathers, and black, a murder of crow dispersed into the morning sky, causing the rock-nin to stare around in frustrated question. Where had their target gone? And when did a shower of kunai take out half of their unit?

"All of this…just for a boy," did Itachi's voice echo, from seemingly everywhere.

"Where is he?" called out the few remaining rock-nin, kunai at the ready but staring around like frightened, caged lamb.

"The Tsuchikage beyond doubt, needs to mend his priorities…" continued Itachi, watching from a vantage location.

Itachi raised his hands into a neat praying position. Pressed palms brought up to his nose, Itachi's fingers formed seals so precise and so quickly, in mid blink the ninjutsu formula had been played out fully.

'Fire Style: Supreme Bird of Paradise no jutsu…' Itachi's enchantment echoed in his mind.

Stomach tight with fire chakra, when he inhaled and released his jutsu, a small orb of flame then grew a few inches from his lips, before it shot forward, separating the enemy group and putting them at a questionable pause when the orb came to a standstill before their eyes.

"Wh-what jutsu is this?"

In seconds the orb seemed to become unstable, it throbbed and began to grow until it was the size of a tiny sun. Inside Itachi's calculating head, he did the countdown. And at one the ball of flame imploded. What was born from the ash and kicked up dust of the running rock-nin, were birds of red flame. These chakra seeking birds, did exactly what they were meant to. The rock-nin that decided to high-tail and run for it, were hunted down one by one and taken from the back by Itachi's birds of paradise. As he looked the forest over from the top of a scorched tree, he witnessed the rock-nin's bodies aflame amidst the land, to him they appeared like various placed festival lanterns, perhaps with small mechanical jewelry box wind ups, playing their cries.

Smoke was thick in the air; Itachi breathed it in deeply, having become accustomed to it's very taste years back. This morning for him had started out like no other; warm, soft, comfortable, and carefree. Now though, as he overlooked the earth scarred with shinobi work, he felt no better than the days when he traveled alongside Kisame. He felt …ghostlike.

Sharingan eased their calculating stare slowly from his right, to his left, just overlooking the rim line of his collar. His mission was a failure, he was fully prepared to tell Pein that Kanna and her little brother were killed in the crossfire of Akatsuki and the Tsuchikage's forces. The plan had come to him right when he told Kanna to flee. Even though at that moment he had never felt so at odds with himself.

"Those that remained are pulling back…" he said to himself, noticing what looked like the captain of this entire squadron, calling out.

"Pull back - we got the kid!" shouted Tooru, not about to stick around a moment longer. He had a wife and four children, why take himself out of their lives for a needless battle?

And in the wake of the rock-nin's voice, Itachi's eyebrows furrowed and he bit onto his bottom lip; they had got their hands on Haru Kouji. It was a very strange feeling that overtook him then. Cold, numb, and yet his heartbeat raced and there was a pain in his stomach.

Hands not yet stained with fresh blood, loosened their tightened fists as Itachi decent from the tree he had been standing on in a ruffle of black cloak. There wasn't a flake of snow for at least a mile now, but his feet would soon reach it's cold walk way. He at first wasn't aware what he was in pursuit of, he just started to run, form nothing but a blur of speed between the tall trees.

Itachi left behind Deidara and Tobi, this was none of their concern. Somehow it felt like his. And then it dawned on him as he jumped a stream, pushing chunks of snow like white rafts.

Itachi was in pursuit of Kouji. If Kanna was dead it was the most he could do for her; to not allow the rock-nin her brother. Just the thought of Kanna dead was…strange. He felt nothing immense, just like he had lost something in the snow. Should not he feel more? He hadn't talked to anyone in such a way as he did with Kanna. No one knew more about him now than her, he had never touched a girl in years the way he touched her. She was to him right now, a lost piece of jewelry in winter's first snow…

"The hell is he going hmm?" barked Deidara, standing atop the back of his bird.

Tobi stood alongside him, a hand over his only eye, shielding the rays of the sun. It was difficult but he caught sight of Itachi just before he was swallowed up by the vastness of a bamboo forest.

"Maybe he is so enthusiastic about this battle, he doesn't want it to end and is chasing the survivors?" tossed in Tobi.

Deidara rolled his eyes, "Please, you give him far more credit than he deserves hmm."

The earth was an absolute mess. Tobi crinkled his nose in disgust at the tears in the soil, welts on the hills, and gashes in the rocks. A bright orange caught his good eye then. "Deidara-senpai, um…the mansion is ablaze."

Ahead. There he was. Running…

Intercepting branches; fingers sharp as whips, smacked her face in her run with both arms back in the style of shinobi pursuit. Somehow the sting of those cuts didn't break her concentration, nor did the heavy feel of her limbs, in fact they weren't even noticed.

What was noticed, was that the rock-nin realized Kanna was chasing him down. For a brief moment his speed increased, up until Kanna's sudden outstretched hand, induced with chakra, stimulated the growth beneath the earths surface. As if her hand cast a spell, the ground shook with a low, deep bass groan. With the same earth tunneling effect of the rock-nin's tremors, a upturn of dark-thorn vine lassoed the rock-nin's heels, having him go face first into the snow.

He struggled against the immense strength of the vines that ultimately pulled him underground to a unknown death, leaving Kanna to hurry over to Kouji who had been tossed across the snow and rolled, before skidding to a halt, limbs tossed this way and that in his paralyzed state.

"Damn it…" Kanna cursed out to the side, just as she dropped to her knees by Kouji.

Kouji's Brown eyes were wide to the sky, there was a flicker in them as Kanna stared down, he was quite aware on what was taking place.

"Thank god you're fine. Come on we need to go…" she told, gathering his limbs and holding him to her. They still had time to escape before the Akatsuki match with the rock-nin came to conclusion, Kanna was not going to let this wide open door slam in her face.

About to stand, something at the corner of her eye, paralyzed Kanna with fear. Shadow. Beast. Spirit of this country. Against the white snow, in a clearing was no other than the Tsuchikage, who stood out like early spring breaking through that white winter crust to reveal a layered emerald green and bronze stained leather armor. Blonde haired, forest eyed, with a chiseled jaw; he was a man by appearance alone, told of the respect and fear he demanded.

Kanna gasped, now sure of who startled her so.

"Otou-san…" though she wanted to restrain it, in the moment she was incapable.

"Still alive I see," The Tsuchikage directed a hard, narrowed stare her way. "I have to give you credit, because truly I expected you to flee instead of persevere…like a _real_ shinobi would."

His weight shifted, at first so still like a mountain, when he moved Kanna kicked back in alarm, and rolled in the snow with Kouji in her arms.

The snow crunched under his masculine weight as he sauntered forward, to then pause when Kanna was able to see the white of his eyes and he could see hers. He stood still, cruel green eyes observing the faces of his two children, the same children he left to fend for themselves after he destroyed their entire clan on a unanimous decision of the five country council. Quiet, his heavy brows suddenly furrowed inward when he noticed Kanna, his middle child, wearing an altered grass hitai-ate.

"Struck through," the Tsuchikage stated, with a heavy exhale of disappointment. "We had a deal: abandon your shinobi rank in exchange for yours and Kouji's existence. Did I not make myself clear the night I found you two huddled in your clan's bakery? Or have you just forgotten, Kanna?"

Word vomit, or else plain stupidity on impulse, Kanna spat back -"Deals? The deal was over once you sent that squad after us!"

Sarutahiko's eerily calm expression instantly altered to viciousness as he immediately scolded - "blunt, always outspoken! Leaving you with your mother was a sad mistake of mine. Because she allowed you to talk down to men…" he paused in thought, watching Kouji twitch, "and she turned my sons into a rotten branch of my legacy!"

He watched Kanna's expression harden, fright still lingering in the corner of her eyes. "Why do you want Kouji?" she questioned, a gulp heard in the silent aftermath of his shouts.

Like a machine, the Tsuchikage's head turned on oiled gears, but snapped in her direction. "I guess I could tell you," he said, head cocking to the side, "not as if you pose a threat."

Standing six feet, the Tsuchikage's shadow covered Kanna's strewn form. One of his large hands adjusted a vambrace, hugging a forearm.

"Let me first admit this to you Kanna, I am sorry I destroyed your clan before it's time -"

"Is that suppose to mean something to me?" she bit, not about to accept any apology he had for his unnecessary actions.

However the Tsuchikage held up a forestalling finger, "Only because honestly, I wouldn't have to go to such lengths to obtain a Haru if there were only more," he paused, once again witnessing dread spread across Kanna's face. So much for the apology she thought she was getting. "Kanna. Do you know of the Legendary _Sannin No Konohagakure_?"

Not a moment was needed for her to think, she knew. "_Hai_."

The Tsuchikage nodded his head, relieved there was no need to enlighten. "Yes. Well then you know of Orochimaru."

That name did not pierce immediate dread in Kanna. She wasn't a native of Leaf so did not know of that man's crimes first hand. Instead, his name came to her as a foreign monster myth. What did this Orochimaru have to do with Kouji?

After a pause, the Tsuchikage rolled his neck to the side to alleviate a knot from standing still for so long watching his bedlam unfold. "Your clan Kanna, whose blood trait allows those with it flowing through their veins to regenerate cells instantaneously, is truly a gift. And yet though it's a gift…it has the potential to be a blessing, if only it were dissected and studied..."

A cold filled her belly. Where was he going with his explanation?

"Orochimaru, a brilliant but evil mind, has been in pursuit of one thing…it has never been a secret to the world, that he wishes to obtain immortality. And with your clan's blood, he will be able to harvest such from it. So that not only cells can regenerate, but as can naturally rotting innards by age…"

All color was drawn from her flesh and her stomach tightened into knots. Orochimaru, the tales of his horrid crimes to his own people in Konohagakure were legend. With scalpel and paper he experimented on his own comrades without remorse, trying to obtain what was unattainable by clean hands; an immortal life.

"You…!" her throat was dry, but she wretched her head side to side in protest and repulsion, "you're mad! We're your own flesh and blood!" Though he was not of Haru descent.

Green eyes narrowing, it appeared as if he were insulted by the truth. Yet, Sarutahiko brushed Kanna's words off like sand. "Obviously if I'm here, that fact means very little to me ."

Something about the Tsuchikage's ruthless, cruel disregard for family reminded her of someone. Kanna was horrified to see him in her years back.

"Now, I am tired of this unruly countryside," the Tsuchikage sighed and went to grab for Kouji who was still under the cast of a paralysis jutsu. "I will be taking my son now-"

In that instant, Kanna smacked his hand away and shuffled backwards, Kouji's weight in her weak state was proving a little too much however. Knees in, arms wrapped about his middle as he sat like a marinate, Kanna attempted to tug him up, but only was capable of dragging him a few feet back.

Like a slow moving predator, the Tsuchikage in his armored attire watched his children through compassionless eyes. "Kanna, I am not a man of patience. Nor compassion, mercy, or forgiveness." he growled. "The night I spared you and Kouji, was merely me being rational."

When he made another motion towards Kouji, Kanna slapped his hand away once again, but the slap was returned. So hard, so crisp, the blow was more like leather on the broad side of a rock. One side of her face burning, she tumbled across the ground, Kouji falling a few feet from her.

"No! You can't have him!" she shouted, regaining her senses.

With a mere cold glance her way, he shrugged his daughter off and grabbed Kouji's thin wrist. Looking away from Kanna was a mistake, because she withdrew a shuriken and tossed it his way. Hissing through the air in its spiraling tumble, Kanna's shuriken pierced the top of the Tsuchikage's hand, burying in a knuckle. A little splatter of blood squirted onto the snow at his feet and he stared to the projectile weaponry, almost not believing her stupidity.

Weary, Kanna groggily pulled herself up. "I said: no! If you take him, you take him over my dead body!"

Green eyes narrowed into slits, Sarutahiko gave a growl of impatience. So, Kanna wanted to continue to play shinobi? He recoiled his hand and plucked off the throwing star without a flinch. "I see. I should honor your wishes then. But…" he moved forward, "do you, Kanna, understand the disadvantages of fighting me?" he inquired, hand delving into his jacket pocket.

He continued to warn her, "already worn, barely any chakra to control or manipulate your natural surroundings, and you're against an opponent who knows the weakness of your clan," he snickered now, "blood loss. With your chakra at a restrained minimum, the instantaneous healing capabilities of your blood trait are restricted also. No chakra, no healing. No healing, you ultimately will bleed to death."

Scared. Kanna was so scared but clenched her teeth, not allowing her expression to show it. But now her mouth was starting to hurt. "I don't care, I'm not leaving without my little brother…" brown eyes closing, her head slumped forward with another wave of weary dizziness, and her dark hair curtained her features. The voice of Tatsuya now resonated in her head, and like a medium her words issued from Kanna's sore mouth.

"When you love someone so dearly, you'd climb any mountain to get to them, swim any ocean, and defy any boundary," told Kanna. And she loved Kouji. Of course she did. Kanna was just disappointed in herself because she was incapable of telling him face to face.

Not all too impressed by her little proclamation, the Tsuchikage withdrew a syringe from his jacket. Inside was a bright, neon green liquid. He didn't think this was necessary, but it was his last, the last of the weapon he concocted to subside the Haru clan's blood trait abilities.

"Enough nonsense! Do you see this?" he questioned. When Kanna's eyes widened, he knew she was aware. "Kusahime's gift to her family. Without her blood, I wouldn't have been able to formulate this poison. Inside is a hemotoxin. To put it simply, it speeds up the process of what happens when your chakra runs out."

Mouth ajar, Kanna shuddered. That syringe, what she saw in the dream with Kyuusai, had been what the rock-nin forces used against her clan.

"The toxin dispels chakra from the injected, and on it's own destroys tissue and degenerates organs…" mused Sarutahiko, twirling the little glass syringe between his fingertips. "An injury do to a hemotoxic agent is quite painful…and this special mix is irreversible."

By now all her previous injuries from the brawl with the rock-nin back in the bamboo forest had healed. However, her chakra was low, at the bottom of the bottle. Just to move an arm was a task. It was as if someone had tied sandbags to her wrists and ankles, even one around her neck. In a hunched stance, she willed her limbs out of entropy.

"Humph," Sarutahiko watched Kanna struggle to stand. This was pitiful, there was no honor in this. With somewhat of a sneer, he pulled the plastic vile top from the hollow needle of the syringe. "Stubborn. Well, I see some of myself in you Kanna. Too bad not enough."

"There is nothing of you in me!" Kanna shouted, willing her head up to glare her father's way. "That insult is unforgivable!"

Lips thinning, the Tsuchikage started to walk Kanna's way. He spoke as he moved, "a father's duty to his daughter, is to watch over her and be respected by her. And one day give her away to a suitable man…" He came to a pause right in front of Kanna's wobbly form, "there is no honor in engaging my daughter in combat."

After a struggle, Kanna stood up right to face the Tsuchikage. She had to look up, while he looked downward. "In order for what you said to be relevant," started Kanna, wearing hate on her face, a real earned badge after all this, "you would have to be my father - and you've never been anything of the sort - I'm ashamed to share blood with you!"

The Tsuchikage's face tightened, feeling strong grip on his ankles and wrists. Wound about his limbs, crawling up his shins and forearms were pulsing plant tendrils that had silently slithered out of the soil without his knowing.

"I'll only give you one more chance Kanna," he said, a vine slithered up his spine and whipped about his throat, covering his Adam's apple, "give me Kouji and I'll allow you to live."

Body worn, chakra depleted, Kanna's reflexes were slow and just playing out this ninjutsu had been a slow process. The earth pulsed, with what chakra she had, Kanna sent it from the center of her chakra network to the soles of her feet, where it manipulated plant life.

The Tsuchikage was giving her a chance to flee, run with her life. The tighter her ninjutsu got on him, the slimmer her chances of escape were. Earth shadow calm in the tight squeeze, he watched Kanna remove a kunai, fingers wrapping about it's handle snuggly.

_A chance to flee…_

"No," she affirmed, eyebrows furrowed as her fist wound up. "Kouji's all the family I have, and I won't abandon him - because that's not what family does!"

Her eyes, how come they suddenly stung and a lump formed in her throat? The vision in Kanna's mind of a compound full of family now gone, tugged at her taut heart strings. Expression somewhat softening before the blow she'd take on the Tsuchikage- "Sad. I'm only sorry I know that now…a little too late."

With what force she could muster, Kanna with her kunai, impaled the Tsuchikage, held inoperative by her lessened technique. The metal point, the beak of her kunai she thought was going to pierce into something soft; muscle and flesh, but instead she was horrified to feel the impact like that of shoving her blade against a boulder.

"What the-?" Kanna exclaimed.

Her kunai shattered into dozens of sharp shards, her fist crushed into the Tsuchikage's stomach and like the kunai, every bone in her hand shattered on impact with his rock hard abdomen. The pain was excruciating, so much Kanna felt tears dribble down her cheeks.

This scene was amusing to him, "I can utilize my earth chakra, to form a impenetrable, transparent armor all across my body. You mine as well have slammed your fist into the broadside of a rocky mountain, Kanna."

He was somewhat surprised to see she was even capable of tethering him down with these flimsy vines. With her chakra sealed by him, unknowing to her, a few years back, he now became suspicious that the binding seal cracked just a bit.

'No matter,' thought the Tsuchikage, tearing himself out of the vine's grip, 'she still can't conjure any real ninjutsu.'

With his conclusion, he caught Kanna as she held onto her broken hand in pain, and side swiped her with his hand. With his immense physical strength, she was tossed like a raggedy stray cat by a junkyard pit-bull.

"Gah!" Kanna's back hit the trunk of a oak tree and she slid down in splintered pain. "Huf…huf," her hand hurt so bad, now everything else followed suite. Brown eyes daring to stare at her hand, she saw her fingers crinkled in odd directions, and her flesh was a stomach turning purple. As she sat there, hunched over her knees, Kanna's finger bones straightened out and the discoloration of her skin ultimately returned back to it's normal pale pigment.

The snow crunched as the Tsuchikage once again approached. Kanna nearly whimpered in fright, but swallowed it down and started to crawl away. But she was too slow and he nabbed her ankle. "AH!" Angrily, she kicked him in the chin with her other foot.

Head twisting to the side, he glared back down at her, her ankle still in his hand. "Fine, your fate is sealed. I may not get any honor from it, but there is always some satisfaction in pulling a worthless weed!"

Staring into the Tsuchikage's eyes, Kanna saw death lurk from beneath it's hood. In a struggle to get back her leg, Kanna was horrified as the earth grew farther and farther away. The Tsuchikage held Kanna up by her ankle off the ground and in one careless toss, sent her into a group of trees where the impact was so great, the remaining leaves were shook off.

Tossed so hard, when her back met a tree trunk and her limbs clattered in branches, Kanna spat up blood. It meshed with her long black hair, that now messily webbed in front of her weary face. Head rolling this way and that, Kanna felt dazed and confused. 'What…what am I doing? He's a kage, I can barely stand up against a chunin now…Oh my god, I'm going to die out here.'

Unable to speak, a bubble of blood came up and popped once it got passed her lips. Head easing back, she stared up to the Tsuchikage standing a yard away. He withdrew the syringe. Too tired to get up or move, Kanna just sat there, staring like a mute paraplegic. Every part of her body hurt. And now she started to notice that the little scratches on her arms weren't healing over as quickly as before.

"Kanna, are you conscious?" The Tsuchikage casually questioned.

She coughed, teeth grit, blood streamed between the cracks. That sufficed as a good enough reply to him.

"I'm not going to waste my time or energy on you. So, I'm going to allow you the same exit of this world, as your older brother, aunts, uncles, and cousins…my gift to you," said the Tsuchikage, brushing back his blonde tresses.

Like a throwing knife, he wound up his left hand, the syringe between his fingers, and flicked it Kanna's way. It shot through the air, a needle pointed bullet with Kanna's forehead it's target.

Unable to even roll out of the way, Kanna helplessly watched the needle's point grow closer. In some small way she rationalized that by now she had enough near-death experiences to last one lifetime. Now, well this was probably going to be her finale. 'I'm tired…so tired…' Of this, of almost everything. 'But what about…?'

In her closing vision as the syringe shot through the airspace in a slow motion scene, Kanna's glazed eyes widened as a shadow jumped out in front of her. At first she thought it could be Itachi. Could he catch the syringe and save her life?

The shadow stood rigid in front of her. Kanna stared with question, willing her eyes to focus more. However when they did, she only wished the syringe met it's mark.

"No…" she whispered, jaw taut but bottom lip somehow trembling. "No…! KOUJI!"

That shadow, the one she had hoped to be Itachi catching that syringe in mid-flight, turned out to be her younger brother, paralysis jutsu having worn off, and now he stood very still in front of Kanna like a protective wall, a hollowed needle half an inch stuck in his throat.

Kanna wanted to see the borderline between nightmare and reality. It was nowhere to be seen though, all she saw was this harsh, brutal reality she had come to hate and adapt to. Eyes finally drawing full focus, Kouji's back was to her as the syringe key was pressed by momentum and the neon green toxin made it's way into his bloodstream.

"…!" Kouji's eyes scrunched shut, after the syringe fell to the floor and the glass vile broke. Around the small hole where the needle entered, a searing burn began to spread.

In the back ground Kouji heard Kanna weakly cry to him. He heard everything she said, about family…How they never run out on each other and how she was sorry she only realized it now. She was putting her life on the line for him, even though he ignored her, acted as if he hated her. She was still willing to die for him. That alone, that love he wanted to hear for so long rang true and Kouji was unable to watch his sister die after all of this. So, he took the hit for her.

"No…no…no," Kanna kept repeating to herself in a echoing whisper. Maybe if she said it enough times, this would all end and dispel like a realized genjutsu.

The Tsuchikage's fists tightened at the scene, "stupid boy!"

His one chance. So close. Nearly there, and now it was gone! Blistered with anger he grit his teeth and barked obscenities. Orochimaru promised him the spoils of his harvesting of the Haru bloodline. Now with Kouji's fate sealed, the only remaining male of the Haru clan, the Tsuchikage had nothing. He couldn't even take Kanna in her brother's place because the gene was strongest in the males.

In this lament vision; illusion from her first days -

_Kanna's lips trembled as her throat constricted. "Please…just don't harm my brother. I know you can't understand what he means to me, why I do and hide what I hide…but," Kanna's eyes blurred over, and Itachi's form began to haze away. "I'll do whatever you want, just let me see my brother…please."_

From the beginning it had been all about him. From the end of her last life, his existence was her goal. And now as she watched him tumble to his knees, all of her reason came to a screeching halt. About to lose and loss, were cold, reoccurring, bloodless hands in her existence, reaching inside to tear it all out. Taking the contracting intestine of happiness. The eyes that gaze for the future. The pumping heart of reason; all gone in one deep fist and pull.

"Huh…huh…" Kanna was unable to recollect the struggled crawl that took her to Kouji. But now she had him across her lap, the back of his head rested in her cradling arms that trembled. Teeth clamped on her bottom lip, she bit deep to fight the frantic sobs. "Why…_why_ did you get in the way Otouto?"

Like any injection, the reaction was immediate. Kanna felt chakra waves, warm wafts of Kouji's life, being purged from his body. And where the needle penetrated, his flesh began to peel, revealing pink rawness. Kanna could only think he wasn't suppose to look this way, as she watched his mouth and eyes gape in pain. And for the very first time in years, she heard his voice. But they were not words, instead it was a agonized cry of suffering.

"Kouji!" Kanna shouted, face cracked in fear.

The rapid rise and fall of his chest started, a perfuse sweat soon followed after. Skin pale, shrinking face with lines, his mouth glazed white, eyes swelling with pink tears; Kanna couldn't do anything but pant and sob for him.

"I don't know what to do! I don't know what to do Kouji!" she screamed through tears, feeling helpless. "I'm so sorry - I'm sorry…!"

Kouji gasped and coughed wetly; something red spotted his lips and Kanna wiped it off with her thumb. The toxin was wasting no time. Once his chakra was forced from his body, it's natural effect pursued with purpose, to take advantage of his inability to heal.

Not once did he question why he did what he did. Kouji's reasons were strong in his mind. As the last male of his clan, as Kanna's brother, regardless of age, he felt the duty to protect her. And he did. Pain burning every inner inch of his body, Kouji fought the muscle spasms, he bit back the crying, and gripped tightly onto Kanna's arm.

Everything to him was becoming dark…maybe if he let it get darker, the pain would stop?

"No! God no! Don't you DARE leave me!" Kanna screamed into his ear. "You can't! PLEASE!" She could no longer focus, there were too many tears and her face hurt from the expression of distress. "Please don't leave me…!"

"Onee…"

Eyes wide, Kanna heard Kouji speak.

"Wait - wait, I'll get you to a hospital and you'll be fine….w-we'll leave here and go back home!" Kanna continued to sob, holding tight to the hope that if he could speak he could live.

The world around them wasn't there, it was only them. Kouji couldn't believe how hard Kanna was crying for him…it felt so good, because she was weeping just this hard over Kyuusai. And yet, Kouji felt so sorry for her. He felt like he shouldn't have ignored her for so long.

"Onee-san…" he gurgled, something wet and warm in his throat. His own eyes now brimmed with tears.

Head down in his chest, Kanna sniffed and wiped her nose hard. "Y-yeah?"

"You were always," he swallowed hard, "…my onee-san. And the c-coolest kunoichi I've e-ever s-seen." He cracked a weak, shuddering smile. "S-sorry, for doubting you."

"Stop Otouto…" Kanna weakly begged, eyes swollen and puffy. His words cut so deep, she wondered if she had the blood for it. So many internal wounds and scarring; all in the inside.

In response, Kouji coughed again, then fell silent.

"K-Kouji?" Kanna asked softly, a cold feeling taking hold of her entire body. She leaned over his laying form in her arms; his eyes were closed and his head was slumped back into her lap. Kanna asked a little louder, "Kouji?"

His body began to quake and his teeth grated. Body rocking back and forth violently in Kanna's arms, he cried and coughed blood onto the snow. He turned onto his side, rolling from Kanna and curled up, to expel more.

Within a minute, Kouji lay unmoving. Kanna looked to him in horror, tears running down her face with no sobs to accompany them, for the sorrow was too great. She recognized that this was the end, and there was nothing more she could do about it. Nothing could be done by her hands as his flesh began to run and bubble like a candle that fell from a bed mantle and rolled too close to a open flame.

She had to look away…

The Tsuchikage seethed anger, he breathed it and exhaled it. All this planning and now he had nothing. The boy was dead, he mourned for nothing more than a test subject that slipped through his fingers. He would have to go to Orochimaru empty handed.

"Ignorant brats, I curse the day you were conceived! What a waste of my time, just because that runt had to go and deliver himself with a noble death I have nothing to show for my spoils!" shouted the Tsuchikage.

He watched Kanna, huddled near Kouji but not looking at him. The earth shadow couldn't really blame her, the toxin had a real nasty way of leaving the body. Now with no purpose to be here, already feeling what was left of his forces for this mission closing in on their retreat, the Tsuchikage made to leave. However, a ear splitting, blood curdling scream stabbed and tore through the forest. It told of grief and anger, it gutted the natural surrounding of bird calls, mammal rummaging, and rock tumbling, as if all were startled like the Tsuchikage.

"…?" back to Kanna, his green gaze cautiously crept over his shoulder. No doubt, that cry came from her.

That was enough. She could take no more of being a scared victim and denying what she was and still very much is.

At the base of the spine, where earth chakra usually exudes, the seal of the Tsuchikage, much like that of a ward, was tainted by it's paper tassel and ate through. Earth chakra could only be released when fear was nonexistent and where survival grew.

A strong pulse of energy had the Tsuchikage veer around with a disdainful scowl. "The seal I put on her has spoiled…" this meant her chakra control and what chakra he sealed within her to make sure she dropped the shinobi lifestyle, had been released. "This could complicate things…" he said.

Told truth. With a elemental kekkei genkai, two chakra were utilized to create one all it's own. Mastery of Plants and Healing, then came the fusion which resulted in acid generation. The Tsuchikage hadn't seen many Haru in his day that could completely control that self-mutilating energy. And yet the chakra that emanated and enclosed Kanna in a brilliant flame of green and purple hue, said she was one capable of the impossible.

"I wonder, what else could you need…" said Kanna, her voice eerily distorted by the flow of chakra oozing from her. "Since you've taken everything from me!"

Her roar went along with the burst of chakra. Now fully unlocked, radiating that fair size of a class A shinobi.

What snow was in the area, had vanished, cause the atmosphere had gone oddly humid. What the Tsuchikage thought was a incoming mist, turned out to be the rising fumes of her chakra, that was so dense he saw that the rock beneath her feet was being eaten through.

"These fumes are toxic…!" with a sleeve drawn over his mouth, he jumped back and skid to a halt. Out of the influence of the toxic cloud, he glared over his forearm. Just that seconds exposure had his eyes on fire, nostrils burning, and a disgusting taste in his mouth.

Kanna hadn't felt this this alive in so long…the last time she died, had it been this stimulating?

Full composure, full shinobi gear, and hair caught in the pulsing current of her newly released chakra, her eyes set on the Tsuchikage. "I've never, ever been one to talk arrogance to my opponent. Not that I ever doubted myself, but I can't look into the future…"

"That's called low self-esteem," he attempted to correct.

"No!" Kanna pointed at him. "Shut up, you don't know me. It's just having to eat your words is more shame than losing a battle. But-" Her eyes narrowed, and her teeth grit, "I know your fate. So…you fucking, insecure piece of shit, I'll beat you till you die!" Kanna roared, nose wrinkled and teeth bared.

Proudly contemptuous, but cautious nonetheless, the Tsuchikage was quiet, just watching Kanna in all her fury, fury same to his own on his worst days. What could she possibly do? He was protected by his armor and really all her arsenal ever had was offensive hand-to-hand.

"…," silent, he watched her take a step forward, that boot of hers rubbed its heel into the rock, and with her chakra's influence, the hard ground caved in like pie crust.

"You see this?" she questioned, inclining her head a bit to gesture to the ground, crumbling to her chakra. "This, is what you'll be when I'm done with you. Don't look for any mercy either, or any flinches, because if I'm so like you…the disregard for one another will be equal." Kanna's lips thinned, "or less, because I'm the one with nothing to live for!"

* * *

_In pursuit of the Haru siblings…_

He was not alone in going this direction through the bamboo forest. In fact he felt multiple blips of chakra scattered throughout the land, all heading for one way. Itachi suspected these were the rock-nin now fully retreating, heading to where he knew he'd surely find Kouji and perhaps Kanna, if she was still of this world.

Shinobi sandals tapping rocks as he passed a nearly frozen stream that cut through the bamboo forest, Itachi's cloak fluttered when he came to immediate halt. "Chunin," he calmly said to himself, instantly identifying the rank of a unit of shinobi, strewn in blood across the snowy ground.

"…," Itachi walked around each one, sharingan keen and piecing together what could have happened to them.

Deidara and Tobi were still back at the manor and had not spilled the battle this far out into the wilderness. So how did these rock-nin end up dead, unless there was someone else out here, another shinobi. That still left many questions and Itachi found himself irritated and confused all at once.

Expression blank, but red eyes narrowed in suspicion, he at first came to a reasonable conclusion. Maybe another Akatsuki was out here, Zetsu perhaps, surveying the manor and merely got caught in the uproar. But when he killed, he didn't leave massive holes in the earth, nor did he leave bodies. Zetsu preferred a more cannibalistic approach to disposing of dead opponents.

"Then," Itachi knelt down, a purple nail-polished adorn hand slipped out from beneath his Akatsuki cloak, "who dispatched them?"

With two fingers Itachi prodded a blue faced corpse. This one had no major physical damage, in fact there was no blood at all. That only meant with his blue face and wide eyes, he had been asphyxiated. Itachi, careful not to brush his own flesh on the corpse's, gently moved back the padded collar of this chunin's flak vest. There was sudden movement that had startled Itachi, but he showed no sign of surprise on the outside. Instead Itachi's eyes narrowed at the sight of a plant tendril, that had slithered back into the earth like a serpent. This chunin hadn't died standing, but was strangled while unconscious.

Expression hard, Itachi regained his stance, a little snow at the tip of his fingers to wipe the filth of death away. 'A plant that constricts on it's own will…' he thought. No, with sharingan he had seen a flicker of chakra. Was that how the plant moved so swiftly, like a shinobi puppet with strings, did that chakra manipulate that tendril?

Now looking to the soil he stood upon with far more scrutiny and caution than ever in his entire life, Itachi made his way out of the bamboo forest. Something was eerie about the forest now. He felt eyes were on him, but even with sharingan, Itachi was unable to see if he for once felt paranoia, or there really was something out there.

He also had his suspicions about the one who took out that unit of rock-nin. But Itachi wasn't sure until he broke from the bamboo forest. The ground beneath him quaked violently. This was far too strong of a shake to be a typical rock shinobi and it wasn't coming to a abrupt stop. Eyes gazing over the tree tops, crow and raven took flight as something large rose like a serpent from the sea of trees. With it's rise, a cliff of rock shot up to oppose, that strange silhouette against the afternoon sky pummeled the cliff down though and the earthquake continued.

A battle was going on a few miles ahead. From what Itachi could tell, they weren't evenly matched. One was far stronger than the other, however nothing was in immediate favor for either. 'That chakra…' one of them, the weaker one, had a real sinister, evil burn to it. Itachi had felt something similar a bit back, but…to be the same chakra it would have had to been multiplied by one-hundred and had the intent to kill.

"TOORU-SAN! It's Tsuchikage-sama, he's in combat with someone, I'd know that earth shaking jutsu from anywhere!"

Those blips of chakra had closed in, but they all seemed oblivious to Itachi. The rock-nin all came to a pause outside of the bamboo forest, their eyes on the sky in shock.

"Did one of the Akatsuki find him?"

"I think so, but we counted them all back at the Midori estate-!""We probably missed one!"

All these voices; Itachi kept close to a tree in silence, quiet wasn't something he had to strain for. These rock-nin seemed as baffled as he was. From the large unit that had ambushed Akatsuki, Itachi counted only about a fourth of them survived to retreat.

About to continue his pursuit, that other chakra, the one that burned like a sinister flame had suddenly extinguished. The Tsuchikage had just swat down whoever had been opposing him.

'Could that be…' Itachi's thoughts were beginning to stray from analyzed conclusions, to a intuitive gut feeling.

That chakra which festered dark, died down, but once again it rose like a flame with a wafting fan. In the stretch of trees, trunks all tight together, in the morning light there was somehow shadow.

"What the hell is that?" Shouted one rock-nin.

"Looks like a purple mist…" replied another.

A purple mist, moving through the trees that fast? With his gut feeling, Itachi swiftly moved out of the way and put his back against a tree just as that purple mist blew in. Black sleeve over his mouth, that mist had dispersed from the area the Tsuchikage was fighting, much like that of a atom bomb mushroom cloud. The entire forest was engulfed and Itachi's sharingan analyzed.

'Spores…microscopic, infused with chakra…' he identified. Not about to breathe this in, Itachi jumped into the canopy and secured a tree limb.

Unfortunately for the rock-nin below, they were a little too slow and were overtaken. Itachi looked down, he was unable to see anymore. But he heard profuse coughing and the heavy thuds of bodies falling over themselves in lifeless heaps, the light of their chakra had fizzled out like lantern lights.

"…?"

Mist settling, spores dispersing, the scene became a little more clear. Clear enough for Itachi to see the rock-nin slowly rising from their fall.

'They're dead,' Itachi affirmed in his mind. So why were they all moving? And why did their chakra reside? Usually when a shinobi fell in battle, their chakra vanished like any life, unless of course it was utilized by another's ninjutsu. He thought of Sasori and Kakuzu that moment.

Had the spores done this? Itachi lowered his arm, no longer needing his sleeve to cover his mouth and nose. The rock-nin had not said a word to each other, instead they all kind of stood there, hunched over. Any more details were obscured by the thinning purple cloud of spores. And just when Itachi thought things couldn't get anymore ominous, the rock-nin ran off all in one, grunting, gurgling group.

Of course Itachi went after them, keeping high in the tree tops so as to go unnoticed. He wasn't about to test the capabilities of these rock-nin right now, not in their current state. They moved like zombie, but far faster. And the entire squad was heading towards where the Tsuchikage was.

* * *

a/n: all right well the chapter before the last. I have a handicap when it comes to writing action scenes, so excuse me I'll need to practice and research a little more. rofl So the OC finally got herself back in gear - about darn time, eh? Lol a friend of mine pointed out when we were joking about our fanfics, that Kanna is like the poison ivy or kurama of Naruto. xD Flower power!

Well I'm still busy with school, senior year and all. But I'm darn sure this fanfic will be done very soon. However, I did say there could be a second arc. I think if I do start a second arc it will be 7 or 10 chapters long. By chapter 20 on my author's note, I'll let you all know if there will be another arc. So if you have yet to give me your opinion on the matter, well you still have some time amigo :D

Thank you all for reading & reviewing!

-connie


	20. ghostflowers

"_She's a killer & she's a keeper…"_

Violence, melees, and disturbance of the peace; the way she remembered it.

But…what was it _exactly_? Silence of fear, then absolute numbing of physical agony. In the midst of their earth rattling confrontation, thrown down upon the earth, Kanna wondered this. He was stronger -- momentously stronger than her. And yet she wasn't about to run. With a fair silo of chakra tapped, he was still able to overcome her and cause unworldly hurt. But Kanna felt nothing. Why flee? There was no one to protect or go home to. Why fear? Death brought solace. Madness it was, or else a fraction of what real shinobi feel when the odds were stacked high against them. Also, she wanted to make sure that even if she did die right now, in the name of her clan, she'd put up one hell of a fight.

A need for blood -- out on the battle field with carnivorous prowl, pumped in strong, thunderous roars of blood in her head, blurring out all whispers of sanity or what was fear to her and cowardice to true shinobi. All that was present in that hysteric, impulsive head of her's was excessive, mind-blowing resentment.

Every fingernail swipe the Tsuchikage dodged. Every kick he ducked and every unruly plant beast in rage like it's master, he parried. The Tsuchikage could not allow Kanna to make a hit on him longer than what he estimated as perhaps three seconds, or else her acidic chakra, like base, would burn through his chakra armor to flesh, bone, and marrow.

"Try to evade, it is ultimately futile," insisted the Tsuchikage.

His jutsu, in pursuit of Kanna, tore through the ground, upturning aged rock and ripping back the grass and weedy surface of all the soil. Caught in it, Kanna tumbled once again. A wave of rock rose, nearly crashing down on her if she hadn't willed herself out of the way.

"GAH --!" Kanna was tossed back in a blast once again. She felt frustrated, every time she attempted to stand, some force threw her back.

This time though, it was the Tsuchikage himself. Palm wide, he caught her face in his grip and slammed the back of her head into a self-made wall of stone. Skull crushed in that momentous, bloody grip, he smeared her face on the bone, as if her skin were merely mask material.

"Blast!" the Tsuchikage shouted through bare teeth, now with a hand of leaves and grass from a veggie clone.

He skid back, revaluating his situation and trying to pin-point where Kanna was concealing herself. Eyes cruel and keen, shifted right and left with killer intent. They then widened when his body, sensitive to the movements of the earth, felt the tiniest tremble. About to flip back, his footing failed, the ground had gone loose and crumbled in beneath him.

"The hell is that?!" he exclaimed.

At first it was only a splash of uncovered purple, but it pulsed, pushed, and almost looked to breathe in it's ascent to the surface. A green tendril unwrapped from a flower bud, that was roughly the size of a full grown male mountain boar. Tendril unwrapped, without it's muzzle, the flower blossomed to reveal a gaped, festering mouth of teeth and tongue -- backed up by a rotten breathed roar.

The Tsuchikage nearly fell in on the thing, but got a fair enough foothold and jumped. Airborne, his hands formed signs and the carnivorous plant ninjutsu, was caught in a whirlpool of churning rock and swallowed under.

Kanna skid to a halt, a massive cliff quaked the earth with it's growth, having found her and about to come crumbling down. Behind her weary, standing form was Kouji's remains. Up until now she had kept his final resting place undisturbed. However now -- she played out hand signs as the cliff continued to grow; there were no promises between them. A collection of vine, root, and stem all twisted into one momentous limb, combated the cliff, breaking it down so it fell backwards and away from her and Kouji.

Fifteen minutes, a shinobi battle barely ever lasted ten. In mid pant, Kanna wiped a dry bead of blood from the crease of her mouth. 'No doubt he is way stronger than me. I can't get passed that…' Her chest heaved with a deep breath, 'My chakra is depleting, my own arsenal is now too much for my body in this current state…'

Tsuchikage standing a yard away, not even swayed with exhaust like his opponent, he snickered to the side about her persistence while playing out hand signs. Kanna watched, trying to read his hands signs, but she yelled at herself for being so forgetful and unable to figure out his next move.

Water being pulled up from underground rivers, he saturated the earth dark, the first phase in conjuring a mud dragon. Kanna's eyes had widened, now seeing the rising mud take form. In mid air, the mud dragon whipped around, caught her in it's yellow eyes, and shot in her direction with such speed, the trees swayed.

"Kanna, give up. I'm a kage, this match is irrelevant. What do you have to prove, there is no one close to you or alive to witness this," he said, wiping sweaty blonde locks from the side of his face.

She looked as if she were trying to run, but he figured all Kanna was pursuing was a vantage point, and time between his jutsu to conjure her own. However, all she was capable of was a last minute body flick jutsu, that physically exhausted, and brought her to a standstill a few feet away from Kouji just as the mud dragon collapsed in on the earth, burying trees.

"Huf…huf," Kanna gasped for air. Heaved over, one hand on her knee, in a squint to avoid sweat dripping into her eye, Kanna attempted to take a breather.

That left her open, wide open. The Tsuchikage almost laughed at her foolishness as he manifested behind her knelt form. With a swift kick to her ribs, he tossed Kanna through the air and set her up for a body crunching pummel.

1...2...3...13...17... She counted the bones that broke, snapped, and fractured. Caught in a blaze of fist and foot, she at a sudden moment countered. Tsuchikage's fist blazing past her ear as she gave a weary dodge, Kanna took hold of his wrist.

"HA!" Pivoting her foot, she gave a roar. Kanna lifted the Tsuchikage's entire weight by leverage of his wrist alone, and rolled him over her shoulder. Lightheaded and defying gravity for a single second, the Tsuchikage's back slammed into the rough ground.

As soon as the Tsuchikage made contact, he exploded and as the smoke cleared, it revealed a lump of rock -- "A replacement jutsu!?" Kanna snarled, wide-eyed and jumping back in reflex, not knowing where he could pop out next.

From her right, he swung a summoned naginata. Up in a puff of smoke, her replacement jutsu came in the form of a toddler sized river-reed puppet. He stared over his shoulder angrily, and another replacement exploded when she took grip of his shoulders in her chakra lit hands. Their excessive use of the replacement jutsu had Kanna for a moment hesitant, which was a amateur shinobi mistake.

The earth cracked open then, blade of the Tsuchikage's naginata shooting up. "Child's play Kanna, don't let yourself lose grip on reality in a battle!" he said, thrusting his spear upward.

"AHH --!!"

Kanna had been in mid-air, unable to avoid the blade.

Hands gripping onto the naginata's cold shaft, it's entire blade had gone all the way through her abdomen and came out the other side, bloodstained, flesh clung from it's point like a butcher's meat hook. Blood splayed the earth, it dropped down in slow chunks once the Tsuchikage stood and held Kanna up in the air at the end of his spear like a prized fish.

"Huf…huf -- AGH!" Kanna grit her teeth, now feeling pain like never before.

Gravity was now her worst enemy along with this cold, merciless steel. Both hands, bloodied and white at the knuckles, she gripped hard onto the blade's shaft so she wouldn't slide down to impale herself further.

A smirk across his face, the Tsuchikage shook the naginata a bit, wanting Kanna to lose her grip. But she was persistent. "Tisk, tisk…" he muttered. Kanna's blood streamed the naginata's shaft and collected on his fist. He didn't seem all too disgusted, more so amused. He didn't believe she'd give such a fight. "Has a lesson been learned here?" he inquired callously.

Wound unable to heal with the blade still in her gut, Kanna was gushing blood profusely. Dizzy, weak, and coming in and out of consciousness from the pain, she didn't bother answering him. 'He has too much chakra…I need to keep him still, if only for a instant,' however, he was strong enough to rip through her vines.

Kanna only coughed, she gave him no real answer and a deep set scowl shadowed his face. "Do you know how ridiculous you look right now Kanna?" he demanded. "What a disgrace, I should be the one ashamed, overdoing it with you." She was hardly a battle, but one nonetheless.

She coughed, then groaned in discomfort at the spears point.

"I am the Tsuchikage, you're nothing but a reject. Be thankful you weren't any lower though…like that runt of the litter," he gestured over to Kouji cruelly.

Kanna swelled with hateful remark, but was in far too much pain to take action.

Having grown tired of holding her, the Tsuchikage swung his weapon and discarded Kanna to the ground. She rolled a few times, then came to a stop on her side, limbs strewn this way and that like a broken play thing.

Thankful to be off the point of his weapon, Kanna slowly rolled onto her back and put her hands over the hole in her gut. It healed, but slower than she hoped. This meant once again she was nearing the end.

"Tell me, is this all you're capable of?" questioned her father, slinging her blood off of his hands, "bleeding all over me?"

"N-no…" fingers clenched in grass, Kanna made to stand back up, "no way. I still got…" her jaw in a tremble, the Tsuchikage raised an eyebrow. Her jaw fell open then, a cloud of purple fog or mist, gusted out of her gaped mouth.

With a kick backwards, like his naginata, he withdrew a small carry-along scroll. A drop of blood from his bottom lip and one hand sign, a puff of smoke manifested a custom-fit gas mask. He took quick grab of it and secured it around his mouth. 'This wears my patience, fumes and poisonous fog!'

Dense enough to splotch the trees, he came to a stop to realize his entire field of vision was obscured by her jutsu. 'Her chakra is too low to pinpoint…' He thought, hands thrown down from a ram seal he was about to use for concentration, but thought it folly at the last moment. "So now it's a game of hide and seek," he stated, walking blindly forward, "suppose this can count as quality father-daughter-time, yes Kanna?"

In the depths of the purple mist that at the very moment was spreading further, Kanna hobbled between trees like a wounded animal. One hand on her abdomen, though her wound was healed, she felt raw pain still. "Agh…!" Lost footing, she hugged onto a tree, however weakly fell over into a nest of bushes.

She could hear him, stomping the yard as he walked, not at all cautious of her. 'But who can blame him?' she grudgingly thought.

Black hair webbed across her sweaty, red face, clothing now ragged and bloodstained, she looked down at herself with disgust. 'Gone…all gone,' she thought, eyes still puffy from her last cry, and now only becoming worse as she used her timeout as a moment to go over her loss. 'My clan, my bloodline has ended…Wow, it happened so quickly some part of me still can't believe.'

Teeth grit, she hissed in pain, and impatience. Her jutsu had a lot of ground to cover, and when she thought it may have failed her, Kanna's ears perked, readying herself to further the jutsu if it indeed had succeeded thus far.

"Running?" echoed the Tsuchikage's voice in awe. "I'm surprised you can even stand Kanna!"

Blinded by the purple fog, he grimaced and whipped around when he thought he heard Kanna crashing through the leaves and snow around him. At first he thought she had executed a amateurish plan and used all her remaining chakra for veggie clones to confuse him. But…the longer he stood in the middle of the forest, hearing the leaves crash and branches swipe, the more his ears caught onto incoherent grumbles.

Male voices, that's what he heard. "What is this…" he thought out loud, eyes straining to catch a grasp of any indication what he was about to face.

Something groaned in the tree tops, while to his left and right the Tsuchikage heard desperate wheezing. "Kanna! KANNA!" he called, irritated by these games that had the hair on the back of his neck standing.

_Wheezing…groaning_…

In a cold sweat, the Tsuchikage unknowingly backed himself into a pot hole he had made earlier with a ninjutsu. A wee trip, a embarrassing hysteric rise, seemed to cause whoever -- whatever was out there to grow restless. Shadows ducked in and out, growing closer at a rapid speed until from the back, he was taken by two bodies. The weight had the Tsuchikage go forward. He ripped the bodies from his back and grabbed one by the neck. Bringing the face into view --

"T-Tooru?!" he exclaimed. "What the fuck are you--?!"

The shinobi captain's face revealed, his mouth gaped and he shook his white blistered head back and forth like a beast gone mad, showering the fallen Tsuchikage's face with cold, thick drops of saliva. Tooru festered of death so strong, his kage nearly went cross-eyed with the odor. What had happened to Tooru and what remained of his squad? Like their captain, they all seemed rabid, vicious -- beast like. Face, necks, and hands covered in a layer of blisters and welts, eyes a crazed yellow, they were absolutely appalling and out of their blessed minds.

"Wh-what is this jutsu?!" shouted the Tsuchikage, attempting to fight his former force off.

They fought to get him tooth and nail. Hands greedy for flesh, they grabbed onto whatever they could of him and attempted to latch on long enough to sink their sudden-yellowed teeth into him. "KANNA! This jutsu is a abomination!"

That cloud of purple, either fog or mist had been the cause…

_"Black Technique: Ghostflowers' Ascension no jutsu," _said Kanna, from the area of bush she concealed herself. In her weary state, heaved against a tree trunk in the mess of bramble and bush, holding her abdomen she raised her voice to a ever-reaching echo, "don't bother attempting to reason with them Tsuchikage-sama, the dead cannot comprehend worthless things like mercy, compassion, or rationality…"

Tooru had clamped his mouth down on the Tsuchikage's vambrace, his teeth shattered though, coming in contact with the Tsuchikage's chakra shield. He had never seen a jutsu so disgusting.

"The mist I had hulled in my stomach, was far more than a poison, it was a horde of spores…" Kanna paused, needing a breath. "When inhaled, the spores like a airborne poison, instantly kill. However, not only do they kill, but in the bodies of those they killed, they find a host…With a host, the spores sprout a parasitic fungus known as Ghostflower, or Ghost Plant, in the center of the chakra network, reanimating the body for a sole purpose…"

He had ripped half the squad of ten from his back and stood up, regaining his composure and some sanity. "They're like zombie!" spat the Tsuchikage, wiping sweat from his face. "All for you to buy time."

Kanna frowned, "I can barely walk," she corrected. "But that won't matter, this jutsu is full proof. Anyway…" she winced in agony, "the Ghostflower are very persistent, their only purpose, and the only reason they're attacking you is…" she grit her teeth, "eventually the chakra of their current hosts will exhaust, and they'll be needing another source soon. That's you, Tsuchikage-sama."

"Back!" the Tsuchikage punched Tooru and he went flying like a pin ball, hit a tree, hit the ground, and just got right back. In his former squad leaders blistered hands, was his gas mask and naginata. Tooru discarded them to the side.

The Tsuchikage was noticing their strength was incredible. He supposed it was because with what chakra they had, unable to use ninjutsu and obviously having a limited intelligence, all their foraging strength was physical.

A closer look at the zombie-stricken rock-nin, showed evidence they were decaying faster than a normal dead corpse would, and just popping out of the cracks of their drying flesh were small black flecked, white flowers.

For the first time this entire battle, the Tsuchikage wasn't feeling all too comfortable. "My own forces…!" he bitterly said, trying to avoid the greedy hands of the undead rock-nin. Unfortunately, they were becoming too fast with desperation. "Goddammit!"

Foam at the mouth, with their horrid stench, they ambushed the Tsuchikage when he had tried to retreat into the trees. Three from the branches, two from the ground, and the others from all else gripped onto the Tsuchikage. With beast like hunger, they bit, scratched, and tore at his chakra armor, unable to break passed it, but holding the Tsuchikage still under their dead weight and strength.

He was being grappled right in front of her…right where she huddled in pain…where she waited. All of it, all of the chakra she had left -- any little ounce of anything, Kanna was mustering right now.

"Ge…off!" Furiously growled the Tsuchikage, head twisting this way and that to come lose. "GAH!"

Head yanked back by his hair, a rotting arm over his throat, the Tsuchikage was forced to stare at the wide-open afternoon sky. However he strained to look over the point of his nose. Something hissed, gathered, and glowed feet before him. Unable to make it out, he grew frustrated and desperate to be freed. It wasn't until the glow pulsed like a heartbeat that he realized chakra, that angry acidic based chakra had flared up once again. "Liar…she was buying time, and finding a way to restrain me --!!"

His green eyes widened with absolute shock when the intense glow of purple and green hued chakra blazed like a uncontrolled flame and Kanna dashed right through it. Her right hand, enveloped in that ominous glow, acid her body generated, shot forward. At first her hand palm-struck him, the force knocking the wind right out of him, but no real damage came until three seconds later, when her chakra literally melted through his own chakra shield. With a bone crunching, muscle eating sizzle, Kanna forced her hand deep into the chest cavity of the Tsuchikage.

"AHH!" she roared in hysteric victory, wrist-deep in him, "now you know -- HOW IT FEELS!" Face screwed up in uncontrollable rage, she forced the rest of her acid drenched hand through his body until her duckbilled fist came out the Tsuchikage's back in a spray of blood, steam, and poisonous fumes. "…_Dokkasou_," she whispered, cheek pressed to his chest, just to hear that irregular heartbeat.

For a minute they both stood rigid, Kanna's arm rested like a kantana through the center of her opponents chest and the Tsuchikage was hunched forward, body trembling as what looked like inhuman amounts of blood spurted around Kanna's hand.

"Sm-smart girl," coughed the Tsuchikage, blood streaming down the deep creases of his mouth. "You fooled me into believing you were out of chakra, then had those mindless creatures hold me for you…"

Like petals from a flower who met it's last seconds of life, the rock-nin possessed by the ravenous hunger of the Ghostflowers, dried to husks and crumbled inside out once they fell from the Tsuchikage.

Kanna moved her arm a bit, pounds of human flesh having firm hold of her limb. With good footing and one good yank, Kanna tore herself out of the Tsuchikage. Arm streaming blood, the toxic fumes from her acidic based chakra jutsu evanesced.

With no one to hold him up, the Tsuchikage stumbled forward and back drunkenly, still alive and now boasted. "Bad aim, you may have punctured a few organs but -- " He coughed up a significant amount of blood, "heh, you missed my vital spots."

"Ku, ku, ku…"

"Wha-- why do you laugh?!" he barked at Kanna, who swayed as if she were intoxicated also, and laughed just the same.

In a crooked horse stance, body heaved forward, Kanna's now dulling brown eyes peered through her black curtains of sweat slicked hair. "Who said that jutsu was my final blow…? That would be le-letting you off easy…!"

"Ack…" he coughed once more, but with his thumb and index finger, reached into his mouth and plucked something off his inner cheek. "A…stem?" weary from blood loss, he hoped he was just hallucinating.

Kanna grinned, a symphony of flesh being pricked through, tore open, and tendrils stretching from beneath and along the Tsuchikage's skin was music to her revenge seeking ears. "Let it be known…" she huffed, her world fading in and out of focus, "that Kanna, the last of the Haru clan, killed, and ridiculed the Godaime Tsuchikage's last breath!"

There was a pause in breath, as the Tsuchikage bloodied and drenched in sweat desperately pulled stem after stem from his skin. However they sprouted quicker than he could remove. "Stop this -- stop whatever you're doing to me!" he screamed, stumbling back in panic.

Kanna had to stand, she wouldn't let him fall second…

"Greetings Tsuchikage-sama, from the Demon World: Blood Devouring Plant."

The hand she used to impale him, also planted a chakra fed seedling in his flesh before it withdrew, that had more than sprouted by now. Kanna watched through blurring eyes, the Tsuchikage drain to pale gray, wrinkle, and dry. Nothing was left but a body shaped pile of gray ash, with a large bush of red blossoms growing right out the center.

---

_Relief, a god given sedative…_

Mind at a loss for any other thought, Kanna swayed like a limp, neglected scarecrow in the afternoon breath, caught up in the dusty black wings of a murder of crow.

"Aha…hah," she suddenly chuckled with tears, "I did it."

A white fog appeared around the screen of her vision, she once again felt the cold of young winter, but this time it was all consuming. She welcomed this cold, that took no hesitation in spreading from her head to toe. But it was not fog as much as it was death's white carpet. Chakra, a weak candle flame on the sill of a gaped window, flickered bright and dark…And in the wake of a fluttered, barely clinging heartbeat, Kanna lost grip and tumbled forward onto the soil. In and out of consciousness, she stared blankly to the heap of clothing a yard away, where Kouji laid still and decomposed.

"O-Otouto…" she whispered. The tears that welled in her dulling stare, spilled over her cheeks and fed the ground. "Forgive me…" So many things had been left unsaid. Maybe wherever the dead go, whatever proper afterlife, her family waited for the last of their clan to join them in said paradise.

Chest rising and falling weakly, the grass kunoichi, scared of this all consuming dark, drifted off.

---

_"Kanna-san…Kanna…wake up."_

That voice, that monotone of indifference for a minor second, stammered with uncertainty. Crouched next to her, Itachi tried shaking Kanna lightly. When she gave no response, he turned her body around and forced himself to look away from her closed eyes and concentrated on obtaining a pulse from her neck.

It was faint.

"_Oei_, open your eyes you foolish girl," Itachi demanded, after removing his Akatsuki cloak, and wrapping it around the girl, where he sifted through the bundle and gave her cheek a brisk slap.

"H-hey…it's you," Kanna greeted so casually.

Itachi had dashed across the torn landscape of the battleground with his intuition leading the way. When he found Kanna mangled, just laying on her stomach looking torn apart and badly beaten, the sight wretched at his insides. All that black hair splayed across the ground, skin so white the snow that remained looked gray compared to her flesh, with her head now set in his lap, Itachi instinctively cradled Kanna's shivering body against his own.

By how badly the earth was torn, knowing the Tsuchikage had been out here battling someone, Itachi instantly knew what had taken place. At first it shocked him, but a few seconds later, he was enraged.

Itachi cursed Kanna's stupidity, cursed Kouji's weakness for not being able to fend for himself, and Itachi cursed Deidara and Tobi for not noticing Kanna run off. Even if he had told her to flee, if Deidara and Tobi were less idiotic and more keen, they could have interfered and this wouldn't have happened!

"…," Itachi realized now, he was blaming everyone and everything but the clouds themselves.

"Kanna, don't close your eyes," he scolded.

Sharingan keen on a vital sign, a twitch of a finger or flick of an eyelid; there was barely any chakra flowing throughout her system. He hadn't seen anyone so beaten and depleted before, that could last any longer. "Kanna, I said wake up!" seeing her barely opening eyes roll back and forth to the whites groggily, he gave her another slap on the cheek.

She wheezed angrily and shoved his hand, "I'm awake…! Now stop…stop slapping me for God's sake." Her shove, was more like the waft of a feather across his hand, so feeble compared to that wintry slap she gave him across the cheek many nights ago.

"Idiot, don't fall asleep then," he replied bluntly.

But Kanna was so tired…she couldn't believe how much so, that she was willing to fall asleep right here, right in the middle of this wicked forest during infant winter. "I'm…I-I'm trying not to Ita-Itachi but…" Lids heavy as if swollen with weight, she opened them blearily not wanting to disobey.

"Kanna…" he started cautiously, "where is he…where is your brother?"

He asked this, because the boy was nowhere to be seen.

Instantly she wished he wouldn't ask questions, it surprised her how much thought, concentration, and energy she had to put in to just breathe. Her mind kept thinking in crooked circles with no end- "They…they took Kouji…and the Tsuchikage," she stammered.

On his lap, her head turned heavily so she could stare upward.

Itachi found that her stare. Neither bright with her vitality or ablaze with her ornery attitude, shared as much life as a porcelain doll, dusty with age. Whatever light was in her eyes, was flickering on and off. He wasn't sure how to react to this sinking in his stomach. The matter only became more abyss like, when he realized there was no normal medical facility close enough to take care of wounds like these. Iwagakure, he knew where it was, but walking in there was out of the question entirely.

Itachi swallowed hard, his Adam's apple dropped behind the concealment of his broad collar. "Where's Kouji-kun?" he asked again.

Kanna instantly cracked, revealing his suspicions were true. "H-He's gone Itachi-san…he interfered and…and…He left me alone," she cried.

Like a toddler lost in a vast market place, after having frantically looked for family, she had given up and just started bawling with defeat. In the end she was unable to protect him.

Away from them, Itachi noticed the heap of clothing. Kouji's remains beneath them and saturated into the cloth, was sadly a disturbing sight even to him.

Silent, Itachi's chin pressed into his chest and saw Kanna had fallen into a tearful nap. His heartbeat instantly sky-rocketed, which startled him. With a good shake, he roused her. So many wounds…Blood absolutely everywhere. In a last measure to live, her body took every drop of chakra and clung to life. A double-edged sword it was though. Without chakra, her healing capabilities failed, and all wounds she had sustained from her confrontation with the Tsuchikage, opened anew.

Kanna watched Itachi's handsome face blur in and out… Body a numb cold, a bit of her felt comforting warmth and it was where Itachi kept her to him. She felt in a way this wasn't all too special…a medical-nin held the wounded this way.

Silent, except for Kanna's ragged breathing and Itachi's rapid heartbeat he was unable to simmer, she looked up to him with dulling existence.

"Ita-Itachi-san…"

He had fallen into thought, wondering why this rhythm of his heart felt so familiar, like a song. When it came to him, he couldn't connect the meaning. The last time he felt this terrible rhythm, was when he dropped a piece of his mother's antique china collection. Unable to move quick enough, he just watched it fall off the side of the kitchen counter in slow motion, and right before it smashed into tens of little white shards, his heart had beat against his ribs in the same fashion as now…Why? Kanna was more to him than a piece of china. He felt it now, she wasn't just a lost piece of jewelry either.

Itachi's head was back, sharingan on the heavens, he found clouds in bruised clumps, were scuttling across the slate hued sky. Another storm was rolling in. And suddenly, he felt the cool touch of fingers on his neck. Kanna had weakly raised her hand to unbutton his collar. He gazed down at the grass kunoichi, "what is it … Kanna-san?"

Satisfied she was able to see more than just his eyes, Kanna looked unsure of how to string words together anymore.

"A few minutes ago, I wasn't arguing with death…we've met so many times in my short life, I think Death and myself are more than acquaintances by now…" she smiled weakly, facial muscles all a tremble with frailty as her eyes welled.

"However, now that you're here…I don't …I don't wanna die yet." She paused, feeling her expression screw up with so many faces of her confused emotion. "You've…you've been the only real friend I've ever had Uchiha Itachi!" Frustrated with her position, as if being pulled on a train to a destination she wasn't ready for yet, Kanna started to sob, darkening the red clouds of his cloak from red to maroon. "I wish I could have met you sooner…!"

"…."

Never before had he wished he could have protected anyone…All he needed to protect was himself amidst a battle, and anyone who dared to stand in his way was hacked into pieces or broken in two mercilessly. He never went out of his way to take a kunai for anyone and he never wished more that he had been around to save someone. Was this the hindrance of affection -- unavoidable attachment to another human being? If so, it was irritating.

And yet…he didn't want to let it go.

Itachi with no way to respond verbally to her confession, leant a cautious, almost hesitant hand. He brought it to her cheek, warmth Kanna appreciated just as much as the air she so desperately gasped for. With his thumb, Itachi wiped the mixture of blood and dirt from her face. And for the first time, in a long mess of violence and remorseful murder, Itachi's expression broke their indifferent binds to release tender awkwardness.

"W-wow…" Kanna whispered, witnessing this. Was the sky about to cave in now, all planets following in suite? She laughed so lightly between her soft sobs, touched by his nature.

And then…silence.

"…Kanna-san…?"

Her body went limp against his, in what appeared to be a peaceful, all-time slumber of a wilted flower in winter.

"I told you…not to close your eyes," Itachi muttered.

* * *

a/n: Well I've finished my first fanfic ever! I'm proud of myself for actually finishing one out of the dozens I started and never posted. rofl And I can admit I rushed this ending chapter because I just wanted it over and done with. And so, here it is! Thank you to everyone who read and to those of you awesome people who were awesome enough to review. Even the smallest "update damn you!" -- aided me. rofl 

All right well after I counted the no's & yes for a second arc via review, private message, and for those who went to my profile and added me on your myspace to send your vote through mail, I can say **there WILL be a second arc to "Torture You". **It will either be 7 or so chapter long, but it will be! I plan on including Team Hebi and I'll incorporate what has recently happened in the manga.

The first chapter of the second arc -- as chapter 21, will be posted early December. Until then, I'm going to fix up my first three chapters of this fic cause they're really sketchy. So yup -- THANK YOU! And stay tuned!

-connie


	21. the new void

"_Within void, a godless world where neither good nor evil can exist…we will be nothing."_

By light of a single kerosene lamp a key was dislodged and a lock unlatched. The heavy steel of the contraption tumbled open in the silence of early dawn causing two shady figures standing in the flickering orange influential glow of the kerosene lamp to flinch, while only one, brow slicked in paranoia, peeked over his shoulder through brown bangs. He knew he wasn't supposed to be here on the seventh floor of his family's temple pagoda before this old cabinet where they kept their most secretive of relics and sacred writings. But…

"Are you sure just a glance at these will help you finish your essay, Miss Tsubaki?" suddenly asked the youth, now feeling the prickle of second thoughts. "I mean, whatever you wish to know, I could just tell you?"

The young woman standing adjacent to him felt her own nervousness prickle in that instance, so she took immediate action by leaning forward to distribute her weight on the erect, closed parasol clasped in her palms by the handle. Shoulders pushed up, she made for certain that the kerosene lamp bathed glow on her pallid breasts that pushed in on each other and were exposed by the strategic open flaps of her white and purple kimono. After a girlish giggle that inwardly had her question the possible decline of her I.Q., she spoke coolly- "most certain. Though…the promise of a one-on-one chat with _you_," she smiled between the curtains of straight black hair that hung from her overly prepped head, "sounds sweetly enticing. However, business before pleasure, a shinobi should concur?"

Miss Tsubaki's pearl-strung smile was very pretty, as was her delicately shaped heart face, but the youth found himself entranced by her ample, pale bosom.

"Soujin-san?" gently prodded Miss Tsubaki, whose pretty head cocked to the side in what seemed like innocent ignorance.

"Y-yes Miss Tsubaki?" Soujin forced his stare up.

The woman regained her straight posture as if sure the hook was deep and looped in this salmon's mouth. "The documents? The sun is rising on our enchanting time together and I don't think your father would agree seeing me in here with you. So, let me just take a peek." She smiled once again, her dimples pressed in like buttons.

Soujin nodded his head vaguely aware that his bottom jaw hung unhinged. "Very right Miss Tsubaki, but may I ask…" After the lock, he pulled the old splintered cabinet doors open to reveal a black lacquered box sitting atop a small stand. "May I ask why you're in such a hurry? I mean…when can I see you again?"

The woman's lips pursed watching as he drew the lacquered box into his arms and sifted through his ring of janitor-like keys for the correct one.

"Soon I hope Soujin-san, I really enjoyed sitting down with you, talking about your amazing feats as a shinobi. I was most impressed when you told me you made chunin at sixteen!"

"Did you like when I performed that rad water clone jutsu -- I really fooled you that time didn't I?" boasted Soujin, who firmly believed he impressed the mysterious young woman who ended up on his family's estate a night ago with a broken ankle, crying about how she had been mugged and was miles away from home.

Tsubaki's fingers tapped her thigh impatiently as the sun crept up outside, lessening the lamps glow. The more time ticked by, the more nervous she became and the more difficult it was to take Soujin's conceited rants. If he did not hurry she would be found out and the time she spent with him all yesterday would not only go down as the most mind numbing time of her life, but a complete waste of time on top of that!

"Yes that water clone; I don't know how you do it!" She giggled again, while suppressing the want to smack him upside the head and yell 'hurry it up!'.

After fumbling with the keys, Soujin's sifting through the metal paid off and he withdrew a small skeleton key, stuck it in the lacquered box and turned. Tsubaki was massively relieved to hear the internal lock snap open and witness the top of the box fly back on it's hinges.

"Well, here they are," muttered Soujin, whose hazel eyes picked up the age of the scrolls by the yellow tint to the paper and brittle hold of the black ribbons. "So Miss," he rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly, "have I pleased you?"

"…" Silence.

Soujin's head perked up. "Um, Miss Tsubaki?" he called.

No longer to his left, the young woman had vanished. Lacquered box clasped to his chest, Soujin started to circle in place looking around the nearly empty wooden space of the seventh floor. "Wh-where has she gone?"

He stood confused and peering out a wooden barred window. The sun was pushing through the clouds and an eerie grayness outshone the lamp. Soujin failed to realize that the young woman who called herself Tsubaki, who seemed to be sweetly naive and vacant, was right behind him. Her small pale hand reached over his shoulder to caress his chin.

"Tsu-Tsubaki-san?" He said a little surprised, knowing it was her because the pale hand that took his chin and now tickled across his lips, wore the same purple fingernail polish -- "MMM!"

She pressed her cupped palm flat against his mouth with incredible strength to muffle his cries as a purple-hued miasma sprayed from the pores in her palm. Soujin immediately gasped in surprise, speeding the inhalant to infect. After minimal struggle, he hit the ground with a loud _thud_.

Soujin now laid spread-eagled on his back, wrists and palms up to the roof. From his lips a gangrenous color splotched downward to quickly vein out and spread, taking up his whole mouth. Tsubaki stood a fair 5'4" over him clenching her lethal hand open and closed.

"Now Soujin-san, _that_ was a rad jutsu."

With a little prod from her geta-adorned foot to his rib, she made sure Soujin was dead before kneeling down to pick up the lacquered box and her parasol. For a moment as she was knelt, her brown eyes which held no vacancy for regret, flickered over the corpse head to toe. To extinguish another's life for no personal purpose held no gratification. This man meant absolutely nothing to her; ending his life left her uninspired.

Composure regained, scrolls in her top and the parasol in hand, Tsubaki gave what looked like a little incline of her head in respect to the dead man before setting out to descend the steps of the tower.

"_Tch_," her tongue then flicked.

There was ruckus ascending the multiple floors of the pagoda. She saw the gray light from the floor beneath her was all a flicker with shadows on their way up to where she was. With this lugubrious expression mourning the clean getaway, Tsubaki shuffled back.

"SHE'S ON THE SEVENTH FLOOR!" boomed a bodiless voice.

In less than ten-seconds the seventh floor was flooded by waterfall-nin. Their diverse attires, crudely fashioned weaponry told of their village's poverty. Whom now in this day would hire waterfall-nin outside of their lands?

"Where is she?" one called.

"I don't see her!" another replied, turning over a low-rise table, upsetting the flower arrangement atop it in order to make sure no one was hiding in its thin shadow.

"There," growled a third, who pushed his way through the crowd of waterfall-nin to point and glare at the young woman who stood alongside the still warm corpse.

"Tsubaki, if that is your real name," the waterfall jounin accused, "I knew something was awry when you were walking around the family's estate on a broken ankle -- as if it healed over night!"

"…," She stared blankly. Though her ankle had healed over night, she was the one who had purposely broke and kept breaking it until her story was believable, until she was sure they trusted her to be harmless.

The jounin withdrew a kunai and pointed it Tsubaki's way, "Our lord's family let you into their home, why have you done this you femme fatale?!"

The group of waterfall-nin at least six strong, waited for the woman to respond. It took a while though, Tsubaki was busy formulating an escape plan in her head. When she finally set on one, making sure it was nearly all foolproof, she gave a deep bow.

"_Gomen nasai_, but I did this because I did not wish to desecrate holy ground," the shinobis' eyebrows raised. "I needed someone to help me acquire the Remnant Earth Scrolls by accessing this tower and that cabinet so I wouldn't have to use force and reduce this pagoda down to mere worthless rubble."

The jounin shook his head in disbelief of this young woman's motives. "Capture her," he demanded, "and retrieve the sealing scrolls!"

She saw that much coming. Wave after wave of shuriken and kunai shot her way. In instant reaction, Tsubaki knelt to flare the parasol out. It spun fast catching the projectile weaponry like flies on honey papers. Behind the parasol she ignited a smoke bomb to cloud the room and aid in her escape.

'The door down is blocked,' she inwardly concluded, hearing jumbles of feet hurry to clog up her only safe exit out.

Just as hasty as them in the blinding cloud, Tsubaki scanned for an exit. No light spilled in so the window was also blocked by waterfall-nin. In the end she chose to ascend the steps to the eighth floor then to the ninth and beyond that to the thirteenth. All the while, the waterfall-nin were on her clacking heels.

Tsubaki scampered up the last stairwell, kicked a door off it's hinges with her geta to meet the cool open airspace of morning. "_Huf…huf…huf_," a little winded after all that running, she hurried to the end of the tiered tower. So high up she could probably prod the heavens and Lord Buddha's hearty underbelly with her index finger. Tsubaki looked down and found herself sickened by the height and multiple eaves of the pagoda. Feeling a heave, "that's a long way down," she muttered, whitewashed.

"Nowhere to go," declared a waterfall-nin, who lead others up to the roof of the tower.

"…," Tsubaki peered over her shoulder to them. Thirteen stories, only one way down and that was the immense drop that no normal person could ever survive.

"Give up, maybe if you give us answers on who you work for, we'll make your execution quick and painless," the waterfall-nin stepped forward.

But he suddenly went wide-eyed with astonishment as the young woman stepped out recklessly onto an eave. In the morning breath she swayed like a sapling.

"Wait!" the jounin from before shouted. "Crazy girl, don't get any insane ideas…give me your hand, okay?" He dared to step forward out onto the eave himself and offered the girl his hand.

Peering to his navy blue-gloved hand with hesitance, Tsubaki turned a cheek and continued to step further out onto the eave, wobbling in the wind and fighting to keep balance. Her display of insanity had the waterfall-nin in a frenzy to try and figure a way out to get a hold of her. They ran out of time quickly. Tsubaki at the tip of the eave opened her arms wide to turn her wrists to the cloudy gray glamorous sky before leaping off.

Before she jumped, the young woman had taken a deep breath and thought to herself -- 'this is going to hurt, BAD.'

An immense cold pressed in on her back and stung like sharpened sleet. As she continued to fall so fast that the tiers and other many eaves of the pagoda were nothing but a blur, she could hear shouting from those waterfall-nin at the thirteenth floor clearly at first. But soon her descent like a stone became so great all she heard was the wind flapping her kimono sleeves, the branches she broke through, and then the sudden SMACK as her body impacted with the hard ground right in the middle of a crowd of early prayers.

A woman gave a sudden shrill shriek as she fell backwards, stuttering incoherent words while pointing to her feet and sandals that were now freshly splattered by Tsubaki's blood. After her shriek, at least a dozen more women followed suit. Young children stood behind the legs of their father's, bewildered and confused by the bedlam of the scene.

"Someone call a medic!" shouted a man.

Every organ, every bone seemed to have slammed in on her back from the inside and hit the hard cobblestone simultaneously. Along with every organ that ruptured or tore, not a bone was left intact. Tsubaki's body was flat on it's back, head twisted to the side and frozen eyes wide in her skull, as if frightfully aware of the intense flow of blood bubbling from her skull that had cracked like an egg on impact. Limbs tossed this way and that marionette-style, the eighteen-year-old was absolutely broken.

A few men hurried forward, at first circling her like confused children not knowing what to do. One pointed out they shouldn't move her while another said check her pulse. Once one of the men dared to kneel, he was hesitant to touch the girl. With a deep gulp to keep back the vomit, he placed the tips of his index and middle finger against her still warm neck…

He got no pulse.

"Sh-she's dead," pronounced the man, recoiling his blood smeared fingertips.

"Does no one know how to resuscitate?!" wept an elderly woman from the circled crowd.

The man who checked the girl's pulse didn't want his fingers on a corpse, so sure as hell he was not about to put his lips on it, no matter how attractive the dead girl was. "No one could survive that drop -- it's thirteen stories!" he argued.

"_AHH_ -- what the hell?!" the second person who was about to kneel beside the body jumped back. "She looked at me -- I saw her fuckin' look at me!"

A brown eye tremulous in it's fractured eye socket swiveled up to stare at the crowd. Too suddenly the young woman's splattered body inflated with a wet gasp. Tsubaki laid aware on the bloodstained cobblestone, gaping into the gray of morning mist that hushed the bright emerald of the hedges that leant over this holy ground's mossy wooden fence line. Not one bit wailing in pain, her body that should have stayed ruined after that drop now stirred. At first the movements were minimal, a finger twitching here and there as nerves retouched. Soon followed her mangled limbs that bent out of their impossible knots and breaks to realign. Those two men who had crowded her to aid stumbled back and away in bewilderment from the symphony of bones, joints, organs, muscle tissue, and flesh spontaneously -- if not righting themselves, regenerating.

In about a single minute the girl who called herself Tsubaki stood up to stretch. With the last kinks and pops out, she caught her bearings then checked the interior of her kimono to make sure the scrolls she retrieved were safe.

"Huh, considering that fall," she sighed while peering back to the thirteen story pagoda then back to the crumbled corners of the old scrolls, "not bad."

About to walk away from the scene, she yielded to the sound of stuttering voices. "H-h-how did you d-do that?! You fell thirteen stories!" The crowd stood wide-eyed, wide-mouthed, and bewildered.

Tsubaki with her fingers couldn't comb out the blood-clumped knots in her black hair, so instead tucked the stray locks behind an ear as she tossed an empty gaze over her shoulder to the crowd.

"I was born to fall and get back up again."

With that and a single hand seal, she disappeared in a uptake of wind and sudden petals.

---

The fog like many, many ghosts on their underbellies crept in hugging the lone country road. The woman who called herself Tsubaki back in The Land of Waterfalls stepped over and through them. This road was so eerie and far away from any village or town, she felt uncomfortable traveling it alone. Arms crossed, pulling the kimono's sleeves tight, her earthy stare hardened.

The trees that lined this road were thick evergreen, tall and seemed to loom over her menacingly. She came to a pause before a fork in the road to strain her eyes in order to read the characters on an old wooden sign.

"Damn," she growled while looking around desperate for a clear sign of direction. "I'm sure I've been heading southwest, but…" She popped her knuckles in doubt. "Oh-"

Just as she had been hoping for a miracle to find someone on this forsaken country road to ask for directions, two figures resting on what looked like a bench ahead appeared. Perhaps a mirage of the cold, she was unsure if her eyes were playing tricks on her in this dense fog until she was a foot away.

As she suspected from the beginning, two figures were seated on a roadside bench; what appeared to be a woman and her young son. The woman Tsubaki was unable to really see, cause her features were shadowed in the influence of an open parasol. It's wooden handle laid loose in the quiet woman's olive grasp and her head where long swirls of red curls hung was hunched forward.

One hand occupied with holding the umbrella up, her other was in the grasp of the little seven-year-old sitting right next to her. His turquoise colored almond-shaped eyes were both unsettling and innocent. It was able to stop Tsubaki cold in her tracks to peer his way. When they locked eyes was when she soaked in his soft, adorably eerie appearance. He was a pale, round-faced boy with soft pink cheeks and a neat cut of shimmering black hair atop his head. Besides the shock of him wearing only sneakers, khaki shorts, and a white shirt with thin black horizontal lines in such wet spring weather, the boy's knees were gauze and bandaged wrapped. Blood splotched his cotton wrappings, much like it did his mouth; bottom lip split like a crack on ivory.

"_Ohayo gozaimasu,_" Tsubaki softly greeted. She gestured towards the bench, wondering if she could take a seat next to the boy. When neither he nor his mother said a thing, Tsubaki sat anyway.

Wind howled above the tree tops swaying the ghosts to a drunken stagger along the ground, but not even the spring wind was strong enough to clear this thick fog. Tsubaki found the awkward silence unnerving, so addressed the boy one more time.

"_O genki desu ka_?" inquiring as to how he was, the boy's perfect sphere head swiveled on his tiny neck so he could set that eerie stare up at Tsubaki. She suddenly frowned, realizing why he was so tight lipped and those eyes so set. "Forgive me, Toshio-san," Tsubaki almost grudgingly apologized. "I realize how late I am -- but I couldn't really help it, seriously."

Those powdered monkey round ears of his protruding that neat bowl-cut, moved as he blinked blankly at her. She always had an excuse to give him when she arrived late. Though they were good, they were too frequent to be true. By now his keen perceptiveness and natural gift of deduction gave him reason to be suspicious about her consecutive lateness and occasional absences all together.

Squeezing the hand of the red haired woman beside him tightly, a sound like snapping twigs said he broke her fingers, yet she hadn't cried out. Toshio's pale pout lips formed a grimace. "What a maddeningly tedious two hours I waited for you Kanna-san," he spoke slowly in a somehow malicious childlike voice.

Kanna eyed the youth warily. She hated to explain herself to him, but did anyway. She told Toshio of her difficulties in the Land of Waterfalls. From her interaction with the Guardian's family, to her jump from the pagoda. Toshio in the end did not seem understanding as much as he did bored and so over sitting on this bench in the cold fog.

After a moment more of frowning at Kanna, Toshio's awkward knobby knees pressed together when a breath of chilly spring wafted across them. "So unappreciative. Not even an ounce of consideration," he bitterly hissed.

Kanna wasn't sorry that she was late, just sorry that he was still waiting for her at all. Her partner was a ruthless creature in a misguided child's body and possessed a real peeve for tardiness. She also understood one thing about him perfectly, that he was just another brat-prodigy Akatsuki plucked once spoiled on the vine.

For a moment she didn't bother and instead zoned out on the swirling fog. "Well, excuse me if my dedication isn't as insanely die-hard as yours is. But you know, you didn't have to wait for me. You could have already been half way there to collect praise."

Toshio's tiny, frail appearing seven-year-old body shifted on the bench to fully face Kanna. "Pft, you would have liked that wouldn't you? Force this heifer's weight on my back while you just stroll lazily back to base without a care."

"Heh_,_" discovered, Kanna heckled and turned to straighten out Toshio's shirt collar. "Was I that obvious?"

Her partner stared her over critically before he ushered her hand off with a unnoticed blush. "We must be on our way now. We're late as it is. Also, change out of that bloody kimono. You look like a tragic matsuri casualty."

The comment had Kanna peer down at her attire, surprised she had gone so far without noticing how bloody she was. "_Hai_. While I'm at it, why don't you change to a more age appropriate body? I don't want anyone to mistaken me for your mother. Besides, I would bear much less creepy looking children."

Toshio sniveled, "who'd be mad enough to conceive with you?"

Simultaneously they both gained their composure and set their fingers in a hand sign. Both deactivations of the transformation jutsu erupt in coiling spouts of white smoke that overtook both their figures. When the smoke dispersed and joined the equally obscuring fog, Kanna traded in her bloodstained kimono for the infamous Akatsuki uniform she had earned. From the sugegasa to the cloak that held her body different than a straight male stature, her identity was concealed within the folds and shadow. However her transformation from kimono wearing femme fatale to an agent of Akatsuki was in no way as drastic as Toshio's magic.

"By the way, I got word via Zetsu that we're to be on alert for enemies while closing in on bases," Toshio informed his partner.

Kanna no longer had to stare down to Toshio, now she stared up to him in his true six-foot form. That once neat cut of shimmering black hair had lengthened to about his shoulders with fringe bangs covering one eye while the rest of his hair stuck up in a strategic disheveled, yet somehow elegant manner. Thin browed, pout of lip, he jumped from age seven to eighteen in mere seconds.

Like Kanna he didn't take to the pallid purple under uniform of the Akatsuki. He preferred a more modern, audacious and unconventional style. From the fishnet strapped to his thin biceps, where on one his struck through cloud hitai-ate was tied, to the deep blue form fitting tank top hacked midriff down before a pair of zipper crazy shinobi trousers. But these details were not the most shocking. The shock was reserved for the dark shadows glossing his lids and the milky white eyes all except for the dark cat-like pupils that stared so deeply into you. He firmly believed his outside should match his inside.

"Konoha forces no doubt. Pompous brats," Kanna tiredly expressed while tilting back her sugegasa to watch Toshio pull his cloak around his fit body. "Well… pick it up and let's get going."

"The insult of deploying mere chunin in order to subdue us still bothers me," replied Toshio, stepping over towards the hunched woman he had been sitting by. But upon glance of the unconscious woman, his pale pink pout lips thinned, "she's your jinchuriki and yet I'm carrying her?" He really shouldn't have bothered to wait for Kanna.

The former kunoichi of Kusagakure made off down the road without a second-thought to Toshio's words. She failed to care that once again she left him with the rather irritating responsibility to watch the unconscious jinchuriki. Though this was Kanna's catch and she had been the one to pummel the beast into submission, she hadn't the desire to sling the trophy over her shoulder.

The jinchuriki flopped like a sack of potato over Toshio's shoulder. That parasol he had placed in it's hand disappeared with a puff of smoke and he wafted his hand to clear his sight. "Inform me again why I'm doing your job," he coldly demanded, gaining behind Kanna. "Wasn't the seven-tails your assignment?"

"Huh," Kanna exhaled, irritated now while starting to think up an excuse to keep that woman off of her shoulders. "Consider I walked all the way here from Waterfall, I dropped from a thirteen story pagoda onto hard concrete and besides all that fun -- heavy lifting is men's work."

Toshio's turquoise eyes rolled listening to Kanna bitch as he put a hand into his Akatsuki cloak to finger for something in an interior pocket. "I was present at that battle, I bear bandages cause of your style of engagement. So, I know what happened. But that does not justify why the deadweight is slung on _my_ back. In fact it further argues in my defense!"

"For God's sake," she scoffed, shaking her head and quickening her walk, which caused the purple bell and ornaments hanging from her conical hat to chime.

Dislodging from the interior pockets of his Akatsuki cloak, Toshio lightly pinched a mint flavored cigarette between his lips. With the jinchuriki slung over one shoulder, he shrugged awkwardly so he could flick his lighter aflame. After a few tries, previously nothing but quick little flashes that hadn't caught, a flame finally budded and licked the tip of his cigarette. Toshio puffed lightly until the end turned ember red and warm flavored smoke filled his mouth.

Their walk was a long one and Kanna didn't once talk about the jinchuriki slung over Toshio's shoulder. Nor did Toshio bother to bring it up for a while either. He knew she didn't enjoy exerting herself, or even lifting a finger when she could get him to lift it for her.

"Just admit you're a lazy snake and I won't bother to question your abuse of our partnership again," Toshio lightly grumbled towards Kanna, feeling her unconscious prize's limp limbs swing like fleshy pendulum as he walked.

The further they walked the deeper they got themselves in a tight-knit forest of tall pine and evergreen. Large rocky hillsides cast a shadow that darkened a large portion of this sudden little valley they hit. Saeki Toshio couldn't help but think how those rocky hills and the deep of this valley reminded him of Kumogakure, a rocky fortress high up in the clouds.

Suddenly he and Kanna came to a pause in the deep center of the little valley. For a moment they took in a breath while looking out to the thick trees, absorbing the peace of a single river that flowed in a quiet trickle and veined the valley. Kanna's brown eyes from the shade of her hat's wide brim wandered for something while Toshio plucked the nearly burned-out cigarette from his lips, and blew a thin wisp of smoke out.

"Ready?" he interjected Kanna's silence.

"Why not," she replied simply. They would soon be amidst the others of Akatsuki; Kanna found her heart beat just a little faster.

They weaved a complicated formula of hand signs…

Quick and precise, they dispelled the enchantment to reveal a wall of jagged gray rock with a head of sick foliage, dry and unwelcoming just above and where once stood nothing but trees. Wall beginning to rumble and shake, a crack down the middle by the inner earthquake opened up to reveal engulfing darkness that both Kanna and Toshio walked into without hesitation.

It was cold, black, and quiet…

Unseen eyes in the Akatsuki fortress watched as the two figures moved blindly in the black heading their way. They all stood atop a finger point of those massive shackled demonic hands, positions corresponding with their placed rings on their own evil appendages. They verbally bashed the two newest members with fierce scrutiny.

"About time," gurgled one.

"I believe I'm numb neck down cause of their tardiness," a deep, but feminine tone voiced.

These voices whirled in the dark without faces until the orator of Akatsuki projected himself atop the statue's right thumb. With his arrival, multiple torches hammered in the hard rock of the massive cavern lit and the two late members stared upward.

"You both have kept us waiting," scolded Pain, nothing but a flickering shadow with a pair of gray, multi-circled eyes.

Both Kanna and Toshio bowed.

Barely satisfied by their incline of respect, Pain gestured with a serious stare to get in place. Toshio looked to Kanna one last time before going forward with the scrolls and to drop the unconscious jinchuriki onto a stone bed before the monster like statue.

Five. There were five other figures in the cavern when there should have been ten. However nine had been the main number for many years until now, since Akatsuki's numbers had started to drop like flies. Both Hidan and Kakuzu followed after Sasori, leaving two places on the statue's hands bare and both open for Toshio to stand unofficially. Sasori's spot was officially already taken up by Tobi, and Kanna took up the smallest digit on the left hand.

"_Came a long way," _Kisame casually strung together before casting the telepathic line to the shimmering projection atop the statue's ring finger, _"already she's captured her jinchuriki. Even fancied Orochimaru's former place."_

At first just black, soon though like incisions on flesh, two red slits opened and seemed to lazily widen to a full haunting stare Kisame's direction. _"I've noticed," _the Uchiha replied, his toneless voice followed back the telepathic line, making Kisame chuckle in a cold breeze.

"_You must be proud, eh Itachi-san?"_

The others were too intent on waiting for Pain's voice to notice Kisame and Itachi's private telepathic conversation through their eerily locked stare on the other. Noh-faced without a flicker of acknowledgment Kanna's way, Itachi ignored Kisame's words and simply brooded on. It wasn't until Pain spoke, until all attention was his way that Itachi glanced to where she stood…for only a moment though.

Between the stone digits another private conversation struck up; Toshio had pointed out to Kanna something peculiar. Two fingers lacked members to stand on them, so they both privately discussed why they were getting the flame when Deidara and Tobi weren't even here.

Pain spotted the junior of Akatsuki exchanging confused glances. So with a casual tone addressed them, "during your growing intolerable tardiness, Zetsu informed us that both Tobi and Deidara have died."

The truth once again seemed pointless to Itachi as it bounced off the cold dripping walls. Old news it was to the members that had fair punctuality. However to the late duo it was fresh.

"Wh-what?" Kanna suddenly stammered in shock, "Deidara is dead -- HOW??"

Her alarm and question was at first met by bewildered stares, but soon that turned into chuckling, Toshio even grinned. Kanna stared around to the others, embarrassed and baffled why no one else seemed troubled by the loss.

Cavern pebbles clacked to the stony ground by the disturbance of chortling, Itachi was once again excluded from amusement between the members. He saw the woe in Kanna's face towards Deidara's demise. His brow tightened.

"My, my Kanna-san, I did not believe Deidara's boastings about your relationship with him were true," laughed Kisame, licking those picket fence like teeth that overlapped his bottom lip menacingly, "but now I regret not believing him sooner."

"…," Itachi continued to mutely gaze at Kanna through the darkness.

Realizing how utterly ridiculous she sounded to the others, Kanna fought back the shameful embarrassment and pursued a bit more tactfully. "Are you for certain Zetsu-san?" her eyes strained to see Zetsu a digit away.

That domino colored head clasped between a Venus flytrap tilted with a nod. "He died by using himself as a huge bomb. So yes, for certain."

"…," she gawked, when suddenly Zetsu tossed something to Toshio.

The multiple pair of eyes in the cavern followed a golden glint to Toshio's open hand. Everyone recognized what sat on his palm as Deidara's ring: _seiryu_.

Her jaw stiffened seeing obvious evidence that Deidara had in fact met his demise. How, however no one answered. No one cared to explain it to her and she became irritated Toshio had no curiosity to even ask for his own sick amusement.

When a silence befell them all, when Kanna's head hung low and Toshio slipped seiryu onto his right index finger, he smugly took proper place on the statue.

"We're at last all present, or rather…" Pain glanced to where Toshio was and where Deidara use to be in almost a regrettable fashion, "what remains of us anyway. But this does not change our objective. What it does change though, is the time and effort it will take to seal a beast…"

Before with nine or eight members it took two to three days. Now however with seven including the two amateur, the time was now most definitely altered with this unavoidable handicap.

"At this summit of Akatsuki's ambition, we do not encompass the time or resource to seek, acquire, and convince further agents. This is the dismal truth. We essentially must make-do with all we have." Pain to himself, in his infinite mind counted the heads of his fellow Akatsuki like bottle caps, "at least until our burdens have been taken care of."

In the barely penetrable darkness, the truth of burdens to Akatsuki rang consistent in one's mind, in Itachi's. Konohagakure, their persistency was tiresome. It seemed they took Akatsuki, an international threat as solely theirs to be dealt with. And that one person…the reason for Deidara's death...

Pain continued on to explain the need for a near whole week hiatus of their dealing. They needed to concentrate on sealing the seven-tails and keeping leaf out of their way. Some serious sorting had to be done so as always Pain would need to take everything into consideration to divulge a clean strategy.

In the cold damp air, the projections flickered and it was clear the sealing was about to go underway once Pain finished up.

"Veil yourselves, keep discrete as this sealing is underway and after…" Pain's voice both commanding and in a way gentle with calculation had all the members ears peeled to listen in hush. "After, I will contact each of you with proper orders."

A simultaneous call of acknowledgment and understanding echoed through the vast cave and every member but Kanna immediately set their hands in the first hand sign to start the beast sealing.

She glanced to the other in a panic, then noticed her partner's first sign so smartly started to mimic. Hands and digits twisted in signs, the formula rushed back from memory and the other's no longer needed to wait…

A long, very boring jutsu of sealing it was. Kanna had never used a jutsu that needed anymore than seconds of concentration. So when hours and hours passed, she started to get restless and was discouraged to see Toshio so into the sealing as well that he didn't even bother to glance her way. Only Kanna and her partner besides the jinchuriki were physically present. All the others from Pain to Konan were present via astral projection. It didn't dawn on her that she could leave.

A persistent command of enchantments swirled in her head, calling the jinchuriki from it's human bones. Though repeated in the mind, a eerily soft hum resounded. The hush of their tones nearly lulled her into a sleep if it wasn't for an intrusion.

"_Kanna-san…"_

A voice she could recognize absolutely anywhere; deep, vacant of emotion and yet compelling. Her heart lightened with a flutter that instant.

"_Itachi-san," _she replied back in a needless mental whisper, no one else could tap the telepathic line between them. _"How much longer are we going to be here?"_

There was a long pause as if the other side of the line went dead.

"_Too long_."

"_Ah," _There was a distinct tone of disappointment in Kanna's voice.

Once again the line went quiet for a moment as Itachi privately deliberated. _"Five miles north east of the base is a river that runs through this valley. Follow it until you come across a stone-lantern bridge…I'll be waiting for you."_

Before she could further question him if it was okay for her to just leave, she felt their line of telepathy break as if he hung up on her. Kanna gave one last look around, seeing the concentrated faces and believing no one would even notice if she left. So with her departure of the Akatsuki cavern, Kanna left a projection of herself deep in concentration for the sealing.

Toshio and Kanna had arrived at an early hour of the morning. Now as she left behind one of the many genjutsu cloaked akatsuki bases, the sun was setting. A deep egg yolk orange lazily spilled down the open sky as shadows from the surrounding woods reached out across the wet soil the kunoichi once again treaded. Five miles was not much when one ran at the speed of a skilled ninja, however she couldn't help but lessen her swiftness to gaze around the lonely path.

By nothing but the music of the woods yawning, crows roosted, mammals burrowed and moths set out for the smallest glimpses of light while cautious of vigilant bats. She soon tucked her arms back into the broad sleeves of her cloak as a cold breeze snaked its way through the thick black pine, playing her sugegasa's bell as it passed. Kanna had not spoken face-to-face with Uchiha Itachi in two months, half of the time they departed from the burned remains of the Midori manor back in Tsuchi no Kuni.

At this moment she was anxious; in a cold sweat while biting her lip, wondering what exactly she could even talk to him about. The four months she's spent in Akatsuki were filled to the brim already with achieved missions ranging from shaking down pachinko parlors for many a debt owed to Akatsuki, relic retrieval, assassination and even the acquiring of her assigned beast. Yet none of those feats popped into her nervous head.

'Nervous…but why be nervous?' she thought to herself.

With endless lists of worry, her pace had slowed to a walk so when she spotted the stone lantern bridge ahead, the night had swallowed up everything. A full moon seemed in earthly reach but you'd have to maneuver around Itachi who stood on the center of the bridge leaning against the railing with his sharingan pointed directly at the approaching kunoichi, to touch it.

Sharingan's ominous glow could pierce the blackest of nights and the most infallible of minds, and they continued to follow her every move as she walked across the creaking boards of the bridge. Once beside Itachi, Kanna like him leant against the bridge railing. The other waited for the other to speak, but when it seemed like the silence would go on forever…

"Did you get lost along the way?" he asked in an obvious snit about her late arrival. "I've been here for an hour with nothing but the passing waters for amusement."

Itachi hadn't given her an exact time of arrival, but that was a moot point. After two months of not meeting face-to-face and this was how he greeted her?

Kanna raised a curt brow. "Ah, well, how many fish did you count?"

The Uchiha's immediate reaction was a deep-set frown; however his thin lips curved into a handsome smirk a few seconds of consideration later. "Doesn't matter. You're here now."

Very similar to the effect of Sharingan's dazzle on her, Itachi's words scrambled Kanna's brain. Either intentional or not, she now completely forgot what had her worried and upset prior to the bridge cause it sounded as if the Uchiha was fairly glad to see her. "Um, I didn't get lost along the way I'm just slow -- No! I mean I was _walking_ slow cause I was thinking about you and -- err, well not all about you just -- Huh, never mind!" so there the kunoichi stood, tongue tied, flustered and frankly embarrassed to the point she was now thankful for it being nightfall cause her face had to be tomato red.

"…?" Itachi's smirk had faded, he just stared at her weirded out before strictly regaining proper standing posture in his Akatsuki cloak; the front characteristically laid unbuttoned so half his left arm could relax just between the folds. Hair pulled back in that loose ponytail, his bangs curtained each side of his face more than cradled anymore. Had his black hair lengthened since the last time they met up?

Her large brown eyes rolled over that worn but handsome face of his which hardly fashioned any real emotion. Itachi drew Kanna in unknowingly but also kept a respectable distance between them on the bridge and whenever he was near.

Wind swept their cloaks and the water below, taking lily pads for a sail. After a deep breath, Kanna pulled her shoulders back to try and present a more professional form of herself. "So…what is it you wanted to talk about?"

Itachi gazed out to the oncoming river, he had reverted back to a very familiar stoic mask. "Talk about?" he repeated in that monotone voice of his.

"Well, yes. I mean you didn't just ask me to meet you here for no reason," she pointed out with a slight awkward chuckle.

There wasn't anything funny about this to Itachi. "So to meet you I'd need a legit subject of conversation or business every time?" he pressed, sounding offended.

Catching on fast, she shook her head. "No. Jeez, Itachi-san you really need to not take things so seriously. That's why I assume you only call for me now, for serious business." Her pale hands revved the bridge railing. "I'd…really like it if you just asked to meet me for small talk or to hang out."

The kunoichi's informal reference to her company was almost laughable, but did sound nice. "You should know by now Kanna-san, I hardly take any matter slightly." Over the brim of his collar, sharingan tossed her a gentle stare.

Catching that stare, her smile dimpled. "You're right. As always."

If Itachi had no real reason of summoning her, she didn't mind at all. Standing here on the bridge with him at night was immensely better than anything else Kanna could possibly think of.

"But I do have something for you," he then softly told.

Delving a slim hand into an interior pocket of his Akatsuki cloak, he dislodged something small then turned his palm up. Itachi's fingers slowly uncoiled to reveal what Kanna recognized as an Akatsuki ring.

"It was the reason I was unable to meet you earlier this week," he tonelessly explained. "Kisame-san and I had to retrieve this from the Eastern Sound ruins."

Kanna's attention wrapped around the little ring with its purple stone and single character. "_Kuchin_: The Void," she murmured while reaching out to take it with an undeniable air of awe.

Before she could take it though, Itachi closed his fist and pinched the band between the fabric of his cloak, cleaning it as the young woman watched.

"Guess with Orochimaru dead, retrieving this ring was a cake walk," she now blinked with question. "Hey, why are you cleaning it? I'm sure it's fine."

The void had been Orochimaru's ring when he had been a part of Akatsuki in its early days. Once he defected from Akatsuki like he defected from Konohagakure and the human race entirely, he took the ring with him. Itachi had been the one to sift through the rubble of a lab and remove the band from a freeze-dried former appendage of Orochimaru.

"This ring has been fouled by him. I'd rather not have you wear it at all," When Itachi finished wiping the ring, his voice drifted and he took her hand gently into his. "It was I who severed the hand that carried this ring years ago."

Kanna stared up with surprised curiosity. "Oh? Does that mean you fought Orochimaru?"

"Personally, I would not say fought. Our confrontation had not lasted more than a minute or so. To put it simply, he attempted to obtain my body and failed miserably."

Kuchin was then slipped onto her little finger. In the wake of The Void's rebirth, both Itachi and Kanna gazed at the band looping around her finger before the second knuckle, all the while he still held her tiny hand. They were swept up in nostalgia, from their introduction back in The Village Hidden in the Grass to their time spent under the same roof in the Land of Earth. It had been a nightmare for Kanna, but Itachi had given her hope that she and her little brother could pull through to a future. She had pulled through with his help, but her brother had been lost along the way.

His warm hand, comfortable although callused she shyly tangled her fingers with. Hesitant to meet his eyes, she instead listened to her heart beat nervously hammering away and their in sync breaths. The Uchiha's touch haunted her and she struggled so many times to recollect what it felt like exactly, but this wonderful sensation could hardly be captured by mere memory.

All too suddenly the Uchiha slipped himself from her grasp. "There's a small town across the river," he said, voice vacant of emotion, "we can get something to eat and a real rest there." Then he just walked away, leaving her feeling awkward.

At the other end of the bridge, Itachi did pause. "Are you coming?"

Kanna stiffly nodded her head. "Yes, I'm coming."

The walk to this small town she knew nothing about before had to be one of the most unpleasant experiences in her life. It was dead quiet the entire time. One would reason there wasn't even this much silence when traveling unaccompanied.

Black pine flanked them on this uneven path and the air smelled wet foretelling a spring rain on its way. When the trees at last opened up, a weathered gate welcomed them to Shunran. Picturesque old gray wooded shops and houses side-by-side lead them down a narrow worn cobblestone road. At this late hour there were few people out, but those that were nearly twisted their heads clean off to watch the two cloaked mysterious figures drift by.

Lit lanterns welcomed travelers into a few restaurants, but Itachi didn't stop till he came across a little pocket of an eatery with an inn just across the road which sat beside the river she thought they left behind. He ducked beneath blue curtains and like his shadow she followed silently after.

The lonesome ambience of the modest restaurant made it feel as if they were intruding instead of willing customers. They took seats at the spotless bar, behind which was the cook who turned with a exhausted expression but upon seeing his customers were unfamiliar shinobi, perked up with a very nervous smile.

"_Irrashai!"_ he chirped, sweat had bud atop his brow. "What can I get you both?"

It was a common thing to be greeted in such a manner when you were a rootless shinobi. People acted toward you with both respect and fear. But there was nothing to be afraid of. Itachi and Kanna paid for whatever traveling necessities and services they were in need of when out on missions or just wandering the countryside. Needless trouble was something they could both agree to disagree on. They were shinobi after all, not hoodlums or common thieves.

After their orders, the cook was quick to serve them hot tea. However he apologized realizing the tea was a little old, brewed another batch then presented the tea back to them in freshly washed cups. Sweet curry for Itachi and spicy curry for Kanna, the smell alone soothed her travel-worn body.

"Spicy curry?" Itachi stared through the rising fragrant steam from their bowls.

Chopsticks pulled apart, Kanna was hesitant to answer. Had he actually spoken to her first after that long silence? "Uh, yeah. I really like spicy food," she tossed his bowl of curry a glance. "I wouldn't think you'd like yours sweet."

The Uchiha arched a curious brow. "And why is that?"

White rice sticky with curry sauce rolling around in her mouth, she took a moment to approach his question tactfully. "Well, sweet is fun, fun is associated with taking things slightly and you don't take things slightly. Its…ironic, contradictory to your nature I suppose." She smiled, hopeful he'd find that a little funny.

Itachi just blinked. "I know what irony is."

How come Kanna felt like she couldn't ever win with him? He'd dissect everything she'd say and somehow find a fragment to be offended or upset by. It was real frustrating, and yet she always went back for more, perhaps just hopeful to make him smirk or chuckle once in a while, considering a smile or authentic laugh was alien to him.

Good tea, good food, she smiled up at the cook who was understandably close to his knife rack. "Thank you, it's really good. So you can calm down now, we're not here to start trouble. Honest." Her carefree laughter that followed seemed to reassure the cook who sighed in relief and bowed politely in a 'thank god' manner.

When the cook scuttled off to the back, Kanna started to weed out the onions in her bowl. An elbow on the table, black hair shielding half of her face beneath that sugegasa neither of them bothered to remove, she spoke. "Itachi-san, how've you been?"

He chewed modestly, his manners so impeccable he didn't even hunch over his bowl though starved of a real meal for weeks. Kanna's question he didn't answer till after swallowing. "Busy. And you?"

As if he hadn't any idea. Kanna was the one totally unaware that he was keeping tabs on her in certain ways. Whenever Zetsu or another member of Akatsuki relayed information to him and Kisame, Itachi would delicately work in a question that related to her and Toshio's work. He found it very tough to not have even the mildest concern for her wellbeing when he spent so much time with her back in Tsuchi no Kuni, when her wellbeing was his sole mission. Was it strange of him to bother worrying at all about Haru Kanna? After all he's done for her, after all she's been through and lost…he didn't want to see her fail while he was still alive.

Ridged cup of tea cradled in her hands, Kanna shrugged. "Okay. Busy too…I guess."

"_Hm_," he murmured finishing off his curry as the conversation inevitably dwindled.

With both their bowls and tea cups clean, he made it clear dinner was on him by paying before she could even reach into her cloak. What they owed plus a little extra on the bar; he probably also felt bad about scaring the cook. They ducked out of the little restaurant to meet the night and less people than before. Inn across the road, that was their next destination.

The clerk behind the desk greeted them with an incline of welcome and took their business regardless of their shady demeanor. Something about the rural location of this tiny town said they weren't exactly ones to turn away any business that trickled through. Once again Itachi paid before Kanna could even calculate if she had the correct amount.

"You're not going to hold this against me in the future are you? That you're paying for my dinner and room." Kanna joked, or at least half way joked.

Politely ushered by the clerk in the direction of the hall that their room was down, Itachi shook his head. "No need for concern. Not like I have much else to spend my funds on anyway."

The most Akatsuki members could ever spend their funds on would be weapons, medical supplies, and depending on the member you were talking about, liquor and whores. With no actual place to call a home, their biggest expenses might be extravagant inns. But they hardly had the time to enjoy such a splurge.

One room with two beds, considerably cheaper than two rooms with one bed each, she didn't mind staying in the same space as him. Door locked behind them, Kanna flipped on the light switch to watch Itachi select the bed furthest from the window for himself. With nothing heavier than what they could carry in their cloaks, he sat on the bed with his while Kanna slipped hers off to hang on a hook sticking out of the wall with their sugegasa.

Besides two beds with identical matching white covers and pillows, there was a small clean bathroom with a tub-shower, a shared side table with a digital alarm clock atop it, and a television. Frankly the kunoichi was most happy to have just a bed and bathroom.

"It'll be nice," she said now watching Itachi remove small carrier scrolls from the interior pockets of his cloak. "To not have to endure a dirty root or rock sticking in my back at night, or waking up to swat away spiders that aren't even there."

A puff of smoke erupted in the room, catching Kanna somewhat off guard. She wafted a small hand to clear some of the smoke and when she could see again there laid out Itachi's bed was an unwound scroll presenting an orderly setup of a toothbrush, toothpaste, hair brush and various other necessary things.

A few items in hand including one more unopened carrier scroll, before he walked into the bathroom he took a moment to hang his cloak. "It is very different being a rogue shinobi, Kanna-san. When all is said and done, there is no real home for you to return to."

She continued to watch him until he disappeared behind the bathroom door. Now seated on the window sill alone, she brought her knees up to her chest for her chin to rest. Brown eyes that strained for the future, clouded with thoughts of the past as moonlight reflected onto the flowing rivers surface outside. "No real home to return to…" she sadly recited just as a chilly breeze that stank of rain pushed through the open sliver of the window to toss her long black hair about.

Inside the bathroom Itachi discarded the remainder of his clothing. Shower nozzles turned inward, a white steam hastily rose to the ceiling and soon poured over the vinyl curtain. Hair tie with his struck through hitai-ate set atop the sink counter along with that unopened scroll, he stepped into the shower and turned to meet the water. The life of a wandering wanted ninja wore on the body, but a hot shower cured the short-term pain and temporarily soothed the long-term aches. Head tilted back with a single held breath, his tired face met the hot water's spray.

Itachi's head felt ready to rip down the middle with how many thoughts were pouring in but never out. After all this time his little brother had finally resurfaced from Sound with genuine power. Itachi had by no means ever doubted him, however Orochimaru hadn't been in his calculations years back when he left his little brother to fend for himself in Konoha. Things seemed uncertain for a time, but now the line to him was clear. Orochimaru was dead and Deidara had just been an example of just how close Sasuke was getting to his ultimate goal.

Soap and conditioner rinsed from his hair, suds running down his toned but scarred body, he figured he ought to hurry so Kanna could have her turn in the bathroom. So nozzles turned out, vinyl curtain swept back, Itachi grabbed a fluffy white towel from a wood rack in arms length of the shower and dried off.

In front of the sink with its mirror, another puff of smoke erupted. The second carrier scroll he walked in with now also lay open, but this one kept very different things than the last. Two plastic unmarked vials of medication, one small pouch, and a leather flask of something other than alcohol. Itachi took one pill each from the two bottles, a gel capsule from the pouch and popped them one after another in his mouth. He initially dry swallowed each one, but took a quick swig of whatever was in the flask to wash them all down. For such a powerful and renowned shinobi, these meds were the consequences of overly using his Mangekyo Sharingan's abilities.

Lips mashed together, pinching the bridge of his nose with a clear dissatisfaction for the taste and headache he got afterwards, these pills were a reminder that he was dying a slow death. If Sasuke did not off Itachi, well, he'd ultimately do it himself.

Everything neatly packed back up, trousers on; he stepped out of the bathroom toweling his hair dry. He found Kanna seated on the window sill, she appeared troubled. So with his brush and hair tie in hand, he quietly took a seat beside her, not totally keen on why since he felt he could do little to make her feel any better.

Kanna peeked up from her knees. "Does the water here get real hot?" she inquired in a tired yet hopeful voice.

He nodded his head. "It does…" they locked stares before he noticed her rolling something between her fingers. It was a small clay sculpture of a blossom. When Kanna realized what he was exactly looking at it, she gently held it out for him to see.

"Deidara-san gave this to me back when I was about to meet Pain for the first time. When he presented it, he advised I not tell Pain the truth, that I lie and say I killed Kouji myself," her brown eyes harbored sadness as they drifted their stare along the clay flower. "I was offended at first, but he only had my best interest's in-mind. To know that Deidara is gone, it just seems like a horrible joke."

The mention of Deidara's name, the very sight of that measly lump of clay somehow caused Uchiha Itachi's blood to boil and his brow to tighten. The clay master had never been anything more than a despicable, imprudent fool whose only interest in Kanna had been less than noble. Yet here she was, practically mourning his rightful demise as if he had been anything true to her. How ridiculous could she be?

Unable to hear the thoughts stewing in his mind, Kanna turned to Itachi with confusion. "Zetsu hardly gave any information of his death, other than something like he made himself into a bomb. What sort of opponent could drive Deidara so far as to commit suicide in order to win?"

Itachi stared out the window, when he did not answer she continued to pursue. "Don't you have _any_ idea at all?"

Suddenly his head snapped back in her direction, sharingan piercing behind a visibly annoyed deep-set scowl. "Why do you care so much?" he coldly questioned. "It doesn't matter how he met his end, all that matters is he's dead now and replaced just like all the others who fell before him. You shouldn't bother yourself with such insignificant woes."

Without a quick response, she removed her hitai-ate to watch her reflection in the beat-up steel. "A comrade's death is not just some insignificant woe like you and the rest of Akatsuki seem to believe. Besides, Deidara just wasn't a comrade to me, he was a friend. I never came by friends much in my short life, so excuse me for not treating his demise like a passing wind."

Itachi took an abrupt stance. "A friend?" he repeated in a calculated tone. "Humph. What friend holds a kunai to your throat, or for that matter, what friend offers to dispose of another friend's sibling so she wouldn't have to do it herself?" He clearly remembered the clay master offering to off Kouji without Kanna knowing.

The kunoichi's grip on her forehead protector tightened, "you. You held a kunai to my face. You failed to tell me my initiation into Akatsuki meant having to kill my own little brother. So, you, Itachi-san!"

Sharingan were now two ominous red slits pointed in Kanna's direction. He walked right into that one. "Deidara would have forgotten all about you once he conquered you. Your pity for him is pathetic Kanna-san. "

Leaving his brush on the window sill, without even finishing his hair he walked passed her to his bed and laid himself down, back facing her. Women were such a headache.

The room grew quiet but she knew he couldn't have fallen asleep THAT quickly. Itachi had helped her in so many ways and all without promise of something in return. However what he said last, that after Deidara got her in bed he'd forget all about her…

Hesitant to speak, she might just end up digging herself deeper into a hole, Kanna set the clay blossom down. "Please, don't be angry with me Itachi-san…I don't want that at all."

"…"

When he did not reply, a hesitant whisper passed her lavender glossed lips. "…I'm just so tired of losing people. It gives little hope for the future." Knees back at her chest, arms crossed over them to cradle her now aching head, she watched Itachi lay on his bed not speaking.

Let him sleep, or just let it be easier to ignore her. The Uchiha inhaled deeply in defeat as his fingers curled into the pillow case. "Kanna-san, in the end we'll all meet our demise. Tomorrow even I could also meet my fate. Death is inevitable-"

That moment she felt her heart clench and her throat go dry. "Don't say that!!" she scolded as if he had insulted her. "There isn't one shinobi living I can name that could possibly, or even willingly want to challenge you. So as far as I'm concerned, you're not going anywhere anytime soon."

"You seem so sure of that," Itachi turned on the bed, this time facing her as he laid. He heard the passion in her voice for his life, it was flattering, it was also almost convincing.

He stared at her, Kanna hardly knew what to do with herself with the attention of sharingan scoped in her direction. She just wanted to say and do all the right things when Itachi was near. Genuinely wanting to impress him seemed like a fool's quarry though. The kunoichi noticed he left his brush beside her. "Here, um, let me do that for you."

Kanna sauntered over to Itachi's bed. Seated at the edge she waited for him to sit up and put his back towards her. Itachi hardly saw a reason to refuse, he liked Kanna's touch though he felt it'd be better to avoid it.

Hair resting down between his naked broad shoulders, she started to run the soft brush bristles through it with care. The fragrance of sweet shampoo filled her nose as she breathed him in, his scent alone was intoxicating. "Um, it's gotten much longer, your hair," said Kanna.

Eyes shut, Itachi felt his flesh pucker with the most pleasant of chills as she brushed his hair. _"So desu ka?_" was his simple reply.

Tie wrapped around the handle, oddly a method she also used to avoid losing hair ties, she formed a low ponytail. "Do you want me to cut it for you? I use to do my brothers hair all the time." So difficult to keep her thoughts straight, when her attention turned to follow the deep muscular contours of his shirtless physique.

A hair cut did seem like a good idea. "Perhaps tomorrow," said Itachi, feeling Kanna finish wrapping the band around.

With that done, neither of them moved. His smell, the sight of him and the calm tone of his voice made Kanna's palms sweat while her heart fluttered. Before she could even stop or edit herself, she said what had truly been bothering her deep down for months.

"You said if Deidara conquered me, he'd just forget about me. Well, Itachi-san, did you forget about me already?"

His jaw stiffened and he became more aware of his surroundings. Far from the other Akatsuki, a private inn room with Haru Kanna. He could just…but that wouldn't be wise. In fact it would be the farthest thing from it with current times for so many reasons. The air seemed still, Itachi could feel Kanna's eyes on his back.

"No, of course not," he at last replied. "However Kanna-san, what happened between us in Midori manor, in Amegakure…I cannot allow to let happen again."

There were many things Kanna did not understand or know about Uchiha Itachi. For those reasons he couldn't allow himself to get any closer to her. Yet here they were, as if subconsciously a blind desire plotted against him. 'I could have allowed Kisame to have given her the ring. Why didn't I?' he now inwardly berated himself.

What he expected was for her to raise her voice at him, to shout and demand a reason. If not that, it wasn't beyond Kanna's character to reach out and smack him, or take her frustration out on an inanimate object. Instead Itachi felt the bed shift as she got up. What Kanna gave him instead was something much worse than physical violence; the young woman simply gathered her things and went into the bathroom without another word or even a glance his way. This was...unnerving. He hardly knew what he felt right now, it was guilt but a sense of betrayal also. He knew that he was guilty of leading her on, but…What the hell would someone like her want with someone like him?


	22. amegakure

**A/N**: Soo…I'm in college now, it's been THAT long. I have no excuses for not updating. I've just been caught up with my life. However I still have the desire to finish this fanfic out of pure fun and determination to finish something. Anyway, I redid parts and edited 21 so before reading this chapter I'd review the last one. Please feel free to bitch me out in reviews, or maybe even add me on myspace to do so (which a few of you have LOL). Really, it's all well-deserved. Is anyone even reading this fanfic anymore?? You know, besides the angry ones on myspace? xD I'm real sorry by the way guys, I'm a douche-bag :| Maybe if there are still some people reading this, they'll be happy to know I got the rest of this fanfic all mapped out? Neh? ;c

**22 by the way is a flashback**. A reviewer from the past asked me HOW did Kanna survive? Well, here's how =]

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"_What now?"_

Bodiless footsteps echoed, following down the emptiness of white halls that led deep to the innards of a former military structure now a hospital. Numbered doors unguarded but tightly locked from the outside, lay unbothered for hours until room 22's door slowly opened to reveal a medical-nin in a white lab coat bearing affiliate gear of Amegakure. In his hands was an aluminum clipboard armed with a pen, so as he shut the door with his shoulders he wrote down a patient's vitals for comparison. He walked the hallway flickering with its fluorescent lights till disappearing behind the steel doors of a rusted squeaking elevator.

In the room the medical-nin departed, a single white-barred window's glass was being pummeled by the dark night rain that's water was more like a flurry of bullets. Bathed with the cast of the relentless storm, a single bed lay surrounded by shelves of glass vials and oddly shaped jars full of clear soupy fluids to sustain floating organs. A slow rhythmic beeping was in the air, coming from the heart monitor hooked up to the comatose patient whose sanctuary was this room. She lay there still with jet-black unkempt hair though pinned up, skin so pale it was as if she were made of marble instead of soft slumbering flesh. It had been a week since she was rushed to this hospital in the Village Hidden In the Rain, for it was the only place that would take this foreign shinobi and especially only take an Akatsuki member discretely through their backdoors. Though all her wounds had healed and all her vitals were stable, she lay unresponsive…at least until now.

The young woman's eyelids flickered as her thin brows furrowed and chapped lips pulled tight over clenched teeth. Covers scrunched in her fists, what had once been a slow paced heartbeat now had the monitor beeping in rapid-fire. The sound filled the room as suddenly the woman began to jerk as if in midst of a nightmare. The nurse stationed to watch the patients in the coma ward, became alert to the woman's out of control vitals in the office at the other end of the hall. She alerted the medical-ninja tending the floor and they immediately dropped their paperwork to rush to the woman's room. But as quickly as they rushed in, all three flew out the door one by one to eat wall.

Haru Kanna woke from her terrible nightmare to the horror of unfamiliar surroundings. The very last moments she could recall were the exact moments that played over and over in her head as she slept. The Tsuchikage's superior power had come barreling down on her; unable to escape she felt the physical agony of combat for the first time since she rejected her clan's legacy as shinobi of Kusagakure. Kanna had forgotten just how much pain a properly trained shinobi could endure. The blood, her blood…she remembered being soaked in its yolky consistency head to toe. In her hair, beneath her fingernails, she could still taste it in her mouth as she flopped over the side of the bed, clattering onto cement. In just a paper-thin gown, her skin screamed when it touched the ice cold floor. There on the ground trembling, Kanna cautiously patted herself down. She found no open wounds, her hands turned palms up to reveal no blood. Safe to conclude that she was in fair shape, she tried to slow her mind to figure out just where she was.

"A-an in-infirmary…" the flat-lined heart monitor beside the bed suggested so.

It dawned on her that she could possibly be in Iwagakure or Otogakure. The Tsuchikage and his enforcements must have collected her for Orochimaru so he could tamper with the bizarre possibilities of immortality in her blood. If this was true, she was done for. Still on the ground desperately trying to collect herself, the menacing sound of hasty footsteps closing in filled Kanna's heart with dread and anger. She would rather be taken in tiny, unrecognizable pieces than lay whole and conscious in a laboratory as her jutsu is torn and probed. Body unaffected by the entropy of a long slumber, as soon as that door swung open, Kanna was on her bare feet waiting.

Too overwhelmed to notice the mark of the Rain Village, the medical-nin who foolishly rushed in was suddenly subjected to the kunoichi's fury. She caught one by the face, reaching out with her acidic touch to dig her long fingernails into his features' cartilage and flesh. He let out a wail of agony in her grasp as the chakra that exuded from her palm ate away at his face till she push-kicked him out the door with such a force, he took his comrades with him. Weightless until impact, they crashed through a wall sending wood and insulation everywhere. A cloud of dust thickened the air, one medical-nin rolled out from underneath the heap he and his fellow nin had been subjected to.

"Bring a sedative!" He coughed.

One ninja leapt up to rush off with a limp to fulfill the request as the others hurried over to help their comrade out of the rubble. Hesitant to go into the room they instead stepped back as Kanna dashed out the door. They commenced to chase, tackling her to the ground then ultimately dog piling. The one medical-nin who had went off to retrieve a sedative, returned.

"Sh-she's a kicker!" one shouted, getting a bare foot to the face that whipped his head back.

Once his head bobbed back up, blood and a single tooth dribbled passed his lips that trembled in pain. The medical-nin wielding the sedative began to hastily dig through the dog pile to reach one of the young woman's limbs, but before he could the piled up men began to rise and fall as if all of them were a single breathing mass. Up and down they went till the kunoichi burst forth, supporting two very shocked men on her shoulders and lifting them up and over her head with a most impressive will to escape. "Err…get…off…of…ME!!"

A vein on her soft brow throbbed as she heaved them out a neighboring window. They burst through the glass and rain began to freely spray in after they were swallowed up by the outside darkness. Another attempted to seize her from behind, but she veered around to nab his wrist and forearm, to which she pivoted her foot and sent him soaring into the flustered, reforming group of medical-nin. About to rush off, she was stalled by arms that threw themselves around and hoisted her up. When she caught glimpse of the man closing in on her from the front, wielding a syringe, Kanna instantly thought of the neon green concoction the Tsuchikage threatened to end her with, that had ultimately been the weapon used to wipe out her clan. As soon as that medical-nin got near enough, she took the opportunity to wrap both her legs around his head and squeeze him tight between her thighs. He panicked; the needle fell to the floor then. But he kneeled to blindly feel for it as Kanna choked him out. Before he could grab the sedative, her legs became vice grips and with one quick jerk his neck was snapped like a crisp stem.

Hands trapped behind, she in stepped to jam her bare heel on the medical-nin's toes that protruded his shinobi sandals. Feeling the little bones crunch beneath her weight and force, he shrieked and she fell free. To which Kanna thanked with a vicious strike across the head with a wound up axe kick. The girl again dashed off with the elevator in sight. Kanna felt as if she were running in slow motion, through feet of sand and her goal was shrinking into the distance as the shinobi behind her gathered themselves. When at last she skid to a halt, she jammed her thumb on the elevator button.

"Come on…_come on_!" Kanna pleaded.

Behind her the shinobi were closing in, the syringe in a new hand but the target the same. At last the heavy steel elevator doors began to drag themselves apart. She impatiently forced her way through them though only to find herself stumble forward into the arms of a shadowy figure. Hands reached out to grasp her shoulders, strong, but elegant shaped hands that sent her hopes deep into the pits of her stomach. They got her again. She was going to be bled, sliced apart, and her body would be charted, things placed into little bottles and shelved for uses unknown.

"NOO!!" Kanna blindly struck out her hand towards the figures face.

But her hand never made contact; he nabbed the kunoichi by the wrist. All sensation gone from her legs, she clattered to her knees and her face went forward into the man's dark cloak. Could she still be dreaming? Perhaps Kanna was still asleep in the coma ward. But no, breathing in deep the scent of rain and fields had her eyes slowly draw upward to face defeat.

"Kanna-san," his deep attractive voice was of controlled bewilderment, "what on earth do you think you're doing?"

Her brown eyes widened, all ability to string a coherent sentence together familiarly went out the window after those men. "I-I don't…?" all she could do was gaze into those mesmerizing eyes, berating herself on the inside about how she almost wrongly struck him.

There was no right name for the color of his eyes, they were dark and intoxicating like wine but they weren't pools of it. They were bright like blood and could make her very blood hot, but they were not blood red. Roses could not be as sinister even with thorns; they could not even be as beautiful. The red of his eyes could only be titled: Sharingan Red.

Breathe. How come she always forgot to breathe around him?

"Itachi!" Haru Kanna gasped.

The Uchiha confirmed with a nod as his Sharingan carefully studied her heart-shaped face. The girl's appearance was completely disheveled, long black hair wild with a clip barely clinging in it and cheeks flushed as she knelt before him in a long, torn hospital gown. Behind her was total disorder, there was a gaping hole in a wall with rubble all around, Rain ninja were either strewn across the floor or stumbling up to shoot furious glares in their direction.

He blinked in some astonishment. "Did you…did you happen to do all that?"

Instead of an answer, Kanna threw all embarrassment to the wind and wrapped her arms tightly around his slender middle. Itachi's eyes widened taken off guard by the unexpected embrace that pressed her breasts and pounding heart against his chest. He found her face buried in the fold's of his cloak, could feel her little fingers curling up the contour of his spine. Arms ceremoniously drawn down to his sides, he wasn't sure how to properly react with this awkward audience and a woman latched to him.

"Kanna-san-" gently Itachi attempted to put some space between them.

"It's _you_…you're _here_. I thought I'd never see you again," Kanna's voice was muffled; face still hidden in his chest and hand's showing no signs of abandonment to her desperate grasp.

Itachi was real, no dream, no genjutsu; his familiar scent she breathed in so deep, the unwavering firmness of his form she clung to and at last remembered what had exactly happened outside the Midori manor in the thick wood. The Tsuchikage and her fought and she had in fact done what anyone especially herself believed incapable of. Kanna killed the Tsuchikage, she killed her father but tragically it took the death of her little brother to reach deep inside in order to seize the strength for vengeance. She evoked the burn of newfound chakra, the disregard for the use of forbidden jutsu, and she recalled the incredible sensation of victory. It felt so good.

Again taking her by the shoulders, Itachi at last eased her off. Despite how disheveled and frantic the girl was, the evidence behind said she was in good health but clearly confused.

"You must calm down. We're long out of harm's way," he stared Kanna firmly in the eye and spoke as clear as possible. "We're no longer in Earth Country because I brought you to Amegakure two weeks ago, after your battle with the Tsuchikage."

Though wide-eyed, none of his words appeared to be absorbed.

"I'm saying you're safe," Itachi continued to explain. "Do you understand?"

Still no sign of real comprehension, he then witnessed her hands reach out for his face. He did not pull back as she began to feel his features, starting on the outside where her fingertips gently outlined the shape of his soft jaw line then so delicately moved inward to trace the tired creases of his eyes. When one of Kanna's thumbs brushed across his warm lips, the Uchiha drew in a slow, deep breath.

"…Amegakure, you said?" the kunoichi asked in a shaky hushed tone.

He exhaled warm against her digit. "Yes."

Understanding, she simply nodded and took her hands back.

Caught up in their reunion, Itachi hadn't noticed the Rain medical-nin take their wounded and perhaps dead. When again realizing that they were not alone, one pointed in their direction.

"Collect her effects then get out!" shouted the medical-nin. "Why our God harbors such criminal scum as the lot of you, baffles!"

Without protest to what clearly was unarguable truth, Itachi led Kanna back to her room where in a closet she didn't find her clothes, but a new attire neatly folded. Itachi gestured to the bathroom where she could change in private. "The bloodstains had set and they were ripped beyond repair, so I went out and purchased you those new clothes. If you don't like them or if they don't fit, I'll take you to get others."

They were badly ruined? Well, Kanna could only imagine what state her body had been in after the battle. "Thank you…" she mumbled, "very much."

Inside the bathroom the outfit he got her was a little loose, probably because she had been in a coma for what he explained to be two weeks. 'One positive to being incapacitated -- can't reach the fridge,' she snickered in passing thought, patting her stomach as she looked her sideways reflection over in the mirror on the back of the bathroom door. The clothes were nice but hollow cheeks and pale lips gave her situation away. With feeble fingers Kanna tried to smooth out her hair, not just unkempt but frizzing and stringy unbelievably all at the same time. However the effort was soon realized to be useless.

What Itachi had purchased appeared to be as close to her original shinobi outfit as he could get. It consisted of a fitted black tank top, small black shorts that went beneath a storm gray skirt which matched the button-up corset, which was practical rather than fashionable cause of its anti-edge weapon material. So densely woven was the fabric, shuriken wouldn't be able to penetrate. The only original elements that remained of her gear and attire were the boots, conveniently cleaned, and her standard weapons and holsters. Kanna discovered her struck through grass hitai-ate folded up inside her travel pouch, it too was cleaned because the steel plate with a line gouged through the symbol of Grass, glimmered.

Once dressed the Uchiha guided her out of the hospital where Amegakure greeted with rain of course. The streets were empty but slick, plentiful of water that mercilessly beat down on the dark sidewalks. Itachi and Kanna however didn't have to worry about getting wet. Before departing the hospital, Itachi pulled a _kasa_ from out of his cloak to share.

---

_Eight hours later…_

To see this land for herself not as a welcomed guest but as an exception; Amegakure proved to be made entirely of steel, cement, and mud from every corner. Its crudely fashioned buildings reached high to impale the bruised bellies of clouds that were ever swollen and gushed throughout night and day. From the loft window her gaze reached over treacherously slick shingle rooftops, passed spurting gutters to where the industrialized space ceased and endless untamed marshes began and reached on into the misty distance. The glass of the window fogged as she drew nearer to watch the people far below under coverage of their umbrellas. That's all that inhabited this village, umbrellas. All different colored and their various colors were such a contrast to the gray mysterious gloom of the atmosphere. She had never been in Rain Country before, but those who had brought back tales of hungry swamp creatures and ferocious ninja salamander.

"Does the rain ever stop here?" Kanna asked Itachi who was across the room from her.

Laid back on the couch in his casual pallid purple attire, an arm was lazily tossed across his forehead as his thin lips turned upward with a faint grin. "This is The Village Hidden In the Rain. Is there ever a day the grass is not green in Kusagakure?"

"Heh," she chuckled in a dulcet tone at her own vacancy. "No, never."

It rained a lot in Grass to sustain the fertile soils that all year burst with brilliant vegetation, but the clouds broke often enough. This place might as well have been under water entirely. Then again it nearly was where concrete did not tread, were the miles and miles of open marshlands.

Sharingan surreptitiously gazed over Kanna's silhouette against the misty twilight that shone through the window. "Do you not like the rain?"

After a moment of quiet consideration, she spoke, "I like the rain. But the people here have to be discouraged all the time because no matter how beautiful the rain is, it always makes you a little sad…it always gives you time to mull over things, you know?"

Though her back was still turned to him, he nodded his head in understanding cause truly Itachi knew what she meant, what she was personally mulling over with those eyes that were vacant of their once impressive fire from the moment they were reunited; Kouji's death and what remained. Kanna was now left the sole heiress of her clan as a grieving sister and a rogue shinobi. He wondered what she would now do with herself, with her future. There was no escaping the red dawn, the kunoichi knew too much as soon as he brought her into the Midori Manor back in the Earth Country.

A sudden beep from the kitchen and fragrant white steam spewed to travel its way out into the main room. Apparently the coffee he put on was done. So with that regal grace of his, Itachi pushed up from the sofa cushions to quietly walk into the kitchen and turn the percolator alarm off. From within the nearest cabinet he removed two white cups and poured the dark roast coffee for Kanna and himself. Itachi was tired having stayed up the night to explain why Amegakure was the only village safe to them. Akatsuki's origins were here and this was where their leader stationed himself. With the convenience of one village on their side, perks followed like this loft that had been issued to him, so whenever he returned he had a place to rest.

Along with the considerably well fashioned sofa he tended to favor when he did have the opportunity, there were only necessary furnishings such as a cedar coffee table, a pair of tan-leathered stools at the kitchen counter that doubled as a dining area, and a full-size bed draped in a thick white comforter that sat away from everything else. The walls were virtually bare all except for an old hand drawn map of Amegakure that hung between the two large windows that gazed out over the drowned village. One might think this loft was decorated in a very modern theme but they both knew it was just simply bare and unlived in. It was the closest thing to a home Uchiha Itachi had however, but any items of sentimental value were nowhere to be seen in order to truly make it a home. No pictures, no strewn about clothes, not a memorable scent that stuck in the fibers.

With great care as to not spill and scald himself, Itachi set the neatly arranged tray of coffee down on the only table. There were two cups, two dishes, one for cream and another for sugar cubes. He glanced back up to the young woman. "Kanna-san?" he softly beckoned.

Silence. She was staring blankly to her small, white hands as if they were glowing. To think these hands were capable enough to slay one of the five great country's kage. How surreal that spilled blood could be any less real, could make her feel different somehow, empty as ever but this emptiness had ruptured and now quivered out in the open so thoroughly exposed. Home was nowhere; one was just one – the displacency was absolutely overwhelming and the moment she woke in the hospital, Kanna wished she really had died, if only to not have to bear the question 'what now?'

The kunoichi's hands that fell to now dangle by her sides fixed firmly into fists. "I feel…hopeless," she breathed, "After everything, after all Kouji and I been through, how come it won't stop? I know life isn't fair and I know when it hands you lemons you're suppose to make lemon tea—"

"Lemonade," Itachi gently corrected, sharingan's usually sinister glare softened from hearing the grief in her voice.

"Yeah, that's right…lemonade," fists fastened so tight her knuckles simultaneously popped, attempts to hold herself back but she just couldn't. "But…but this is so fuckin' ridiculous!!"

Itachi drew up concerned for his friend. Yes she was his friend, she said so outside of Midori Manor and as her friend his desire was to console her, but as a man he desired not only to comfort but to somehow make it all better. Without any forethought or tact his feet swiftly brought him up behind her where his arms had opened to reach out but there was dreadful hesitation. So much so his arms slowly descent but stayed mid-air still held open. Kanna's long hair was draped down the front of her chest so now his eyes were set on the exposed nape of pale neck.

Feeling his presence behind her, she spoke more softly as if the walls could hear.

"You once told me not to look forward to care, that I would only find selfishness and cruelty in Akatsuki. Perhaps that is true but then again there is you. Time and time again you've saved me. So, has it finally happened, are you tired of me? I'd understand, you've done more than I've done for my brother or myself Itachi-san," her sore eyes stared through the veil of hair that had hid her quiet sobbing.

He shook his head before calmly replying, "It's excellent exercise."

"That's not funny," she volleyed, but the fragile smile on her lips said else.

To see her awake and smiling even in the slightest way filled him with incomprehensible warmth. "I'm relieved you're okay. Glad truly, I thought my efforts would be for naught and you would perish before we crossed the borders out of Earth Country."

Deactivated, his coal black eyes attempted to peer into what her welling stare harbored. It was quiet between them again. However the silence was different from what it was back in Midori manor. Instead of awkwardly tense, it was comfortable; he was comfortable with Kanna.

"We were deep in Earth Country…" the girl thought out loud.

"Yes, two days travel from Amegakure," he informed.

She turned more to carefully study his infallible poker face. "I should have died then. What did you do?"

Tired and never one to rush conversation or engage in many conversations to be truthful, the Uchiha left Kanna waiting for a moment more so he could think back to that desperate moment as clear as if it were yesterday. He also tucked his hands back into his pockets before she could notice how they had been reaching for her moments ago.

"As extensive as my ninjutsu arsenal is, I'm not well-versed in medical jutsu Kanna-san. I healed what wounds I could, put you over my shoulder and gave you blood replenishing pills every three hours till I got you to real medical care."

Brown eyes opening wide, her mouth followed suit. "You ran with me on your shoulder all the way here? I thought Deidara-san had flown us!"

Itachi's thin lips pursed and his brows fastened in the middle, silently offended she would bring Deidara into this. "I couldn't wait for him. He was too caught up in his art of raucous and needless destruction."

Was Kanna really all that shocked he ran here with her slung over his shoulder in order to save her life? Yes she was. The debt she owed to him just kept building up. Unable to properly string a coherent sentence together, Kanna fell under a spell of vertigo. A hand to her forehead, she hoped to make the room cease its nauseous spin. In the beginning there was hardly a time she thanked anyone besides her older brother, but now with Itachi it felt like every other word she could say.

"You must have been exhausted. I-I don't know what to say anymore," she stuttered, at a loss for another way, perhaps in another language to possibly thank him. "I've -- I have been nothing but trouble for you and I don't know how else to thank --"

Again Itachi shook his head "Don't thank me anymore. Only be thankful you're as stubborn unconscious as you are wide awake Kanna. Because when I uncovered you from the snow, I thought you were in far too horrible of shape to not be dead." His stare fell.

The image of Kanna curled up in the snow, covered in wounds and drenched in her own blood made something inside him ache. She had become the only friend he ever had since he betrayed his clan and defected from Konohagakure. He had foolishly allowed himself to get close to this girl and right now at this very moment Itachi was not attempting to stop it from progressing. 'I am truly a fool,' he thought to himself.

Watching his stare descend, her expression began to crumble again. "I should have died, like I should have died with the rest of my clan back in Kusa. But for some reason I keep living at others' expense…Kouji should have been the one to walk out of that forest, not me Itachi. I failed him, just like I failed the rest of my family."

A horribly thick lump in her throat began to make its way up, Kanna felt ridiculous, ashamed, she hated to cry in front of anyone, especially him – Itachi had to be uncomfortable to be in the same building as a brat feeling sorry for herself. Embarrassed she threw her face into her hands to hysterically sob. She flooded her palms, slicked her cheeks and fingers with sticky tears as the lump in her throat mercilessly choked. "I can't take it anymore, I giv--?"

The sobs were all gasped in, hushed so suddenly that her face quickly drew up from her palms to verify the sensation of an embrace from behind. The Uchiha's arms had secured a hold around her middle, his chest pressed against her back and his warm breath wafted across the nape of Kanna's neck. Unable to cry, unable to make a sound she simply stood hoping this wouldn't abruptly come to an end.

Nose buried in her soft hair, eyes drawn closed Itachi had forced his way through all hesitation, all thoughts of consequence. "Kanna, have you given up hope then?" he inquired with a voice smooth as red silk.

Her body quivered, "I'm exhausted, I feel withered and…I'm tired of reinventing myself. It's hopeless."

"Then you are not the woman I once admired," he confessed with a disappointment.

Thrown off and left bewildered, the kunoichi pressed forward, "Admired?"

Drawing in a breath, he took her scent and could practically taste it. "You once made me believe that there is hope for people like you and I. Now you're telling me it is a waste of time?"

Back in the Earth Country, back when she had hope, Kanna had said such things to him but she didn't know she would inspire him enough to remember it all now. "No, well…I mean," she couldn't explain that there was no hope for her, which had nothing to do with him.

The Uchiha spoke against her nape, "Which is it Kanna?"

Arms curled against her chest, the young woman's heart ached. "I don't know anymore."

"So Kouji's sacrifice was for nothing then?"

Bottom lip between her teeth, those sobs had turned into gasping cries now that she tried to rip out of his hold. "But it hurts – I got swift vengeance and still it hurts! Now I'm alone, that's it, I'm just one!" Now proven the loneliest number.

Though throwing a fit, he effortlessly spun her around to secure her wrists in his shackle like grip so she would not harm him or herself. Kanna seemed bewildered by her own emotions, in-between wanting to continue or else apologize to him. When the kunoichi realized how far she had let herself take this, she shook her head and stared off to the side with a stiff lip. "_Gomen,_ I'm being stupid again aren't I Itachi?"

The Uchiha's slender, long fingers pressed into her skin as he brought her close. When her gaze with shameful hesitance configured with his eyes, he spoke with a tone she hadn't ever heard him utter before; a tone that was so delicately inflected with sincere kindness. "No, you're not stupid and I'm sorry for ever calling you that…in fact I apologize for what I've put you through Kanna. If it means anything to you at all, know that you are not alone…because I'm still here."

"…" Not just his voice, but Itachi's very appearance had altered.

What had been ever inexpensive since they met had softened considerably and with Sharingan deactivated, he appeared to be solely and nothing more than a gentle being asking for forgiveness. Kanna wasn't sure how to react to this, to his warm, coal-black stare. It was as if a different man had brought her to her senses, but then again not different, simply someone who had been here all along.

"Yes, you are," the Haru's heart fluttered helplessly. "So promise me something okay?"

Itachi's dark brows rose with calm interest. "Promise you something?"

"Mhm," she confirmed with a simple nod, "promise me that you won't ever go away -- promise me you won't leave me stranded?"

Still as an elegantly sculpted statue, he did not let her see the sway of displeasure within after such words. Before Haru Kanna he made many promises that would soon lead to a point where his flame would permanently be extinguished and now he hadn't the heart or bravery to tell her, to disappoint her. She caused him such a pain the way her big brown earthy stare unleashed their pleading gaze. Teeth clenched behind thin, delicately shaped lips, they formed what could possibly be a smile just for this young woman. Honestly, Itachi was floored by her admiration towards him as well. No one since the days he walked the cobblestones of his family's compound had shown kindness, understanding, treated Itachi like a human being rather than a heartless monster. How cold was the self-fastened fate that crept close as he established a true bond?

This man Kanna had once detested. The very sight of Sharingan use to propel her into such a rage, fear only knew second place to it. At one point everything had been Itachi's fault – he took Kouji away, he hand delivered her to Akatsuki and she'd prefer to run him through with a broomstick rather than run herself into his arms. But now things had never been so clear, not clear through the multi-facets of crystal but clear as a single sheet of glass. Her heart quivered as it beat in a rapid, nervous rhythm. Looking at him straight on was so difficult. Even with troubles he had yet to share, Uchiha Itachi was beautiful. Almond-shaped heavily lashed eyes, a noble bone structure, long dark hair that cradled all these striking features so perfectly that from head to toe she wanted to make him hers. Yet even beyond his outward exquisiteness was the unfathomable, timid to surface compassion that captured Kanna.

Itachi exhaled then set her hands down at her sides. "Kanna, listen I--" but before he could utter another word she made it impossible to decline.

"Please," more tears threatened to streak those brightly lit, dimpled cheeks, "…I need to know you."

Three things shinobi must abstain from; money, liquor, and women. Itachi was not materialistic and if he couldn't have it on him then he wouldn't spend his funds. Liquor might have been the one out of the three he dabbled in the most, at least until Kanna. He now knew how women complicated things. They threw your life off-balance and they made you do ridiculous things like stick your neck out. If he could go back he wouldn't have done the things he did for her, cause behold his ache now and yet what a wonderful way to burn.

With gentle ease Itachi clutched Kanna's face, the warm reassurance in his hands had her draw in a breath that trembled holding back momentous desire. It felt as if her entire body might collapse in on her weak knees. Holding her, studying her features that reminded him of simple delights, Itachi's face drew close. The young woman's warm breath wafted across his parted mouth until his lips brushed against her own and she held it. She watched so carefully as his eyes lulled into a half-lidded state and with his tongue he moistened his lips. The allure, the intense anticipation would make her blue in the face if he didn't hurry and kiss her. Thumbs smeared Kanna's sticky tears now that he propped her head in just the right angle to lay his mouth on hers. In that very moment Kanna felt herself melt. The sensation of his lips, the way they pushed and pulled against hers was so familiar. She hadn't forgotten the night they spent together, the birthday where she woke up to a man for the first time.

Like pieces of a puzzle their kiss fit faultlessly. Again and again he went for the pleasant sensation until parting from Kanna with a crisp smack. Both of them had noticed how their skin burst into puckered chills, just from that mere contact of the other.

The Uchiha's hand swept across the young woman's cheek to move her dark hair aside, reveal her widow's peak and with that he gazed deeply into her identifiable wounded soul. "I promise I'll never leave you stranded."

That instant Kanna threw herself into his arms and Itachi gathered to lift her off the floor effortlessly. With the Haru holding to him nearly like a child, he swiftly swept her off to the bed. A short tumble, the caress of the gentle white comforter paled in comparison to his weathered hands that almost instantly began to shed her clothes for the opportunity to sweep along her bare sumptuously soft skin as their mouths passionately explored the others. The girl remembered Itachi's taste that of warm, wet perfection now that his very tongue slipped between her teeth again. What Itachi hadn't remembered was this sure confidence she now smothered him with. Kanna was not anxious, not trembling or shyly intercepting his hands that parted her legs so he may rest comfortably atop her nearly naked body. Maybe her emotions drove too strongly, or maybe the reason held within the darkness of the room, a natural modest phenomenon.

In just her underclothes, she would have shivered if the rising moment had not been warming her blood that worked its way from a most busy heart. The rhythm could rival that of a hummingbird's as Itachi pushed his weight down on her. Fingers in each other's hair, they kissed till the blood flushed their moist mouths. Itachi's eyes eased open to stare into Kanna's as he pressed his bare forehead against her own. Gazing upward at him, the kind innocence in her face again hushed his troubles. The first night he spent in her bed had been the first real night of peace he'd ever had. Like she could thank him for what he's done for her, Itachi himself could thank Kanna for just as much.

Thumb tracing endless circles on the apple of her cheek, he meant to speak but the girl clutched the front of his shirt to capture his mouth yet again. Pleasantly caught off-guard, he shifted his weight to change their position. The Uchiha's back now pressed into the mattress that creaked while the girl straddled his slender waist, he watched as she began to remove his shirt. Up and over his head, like her clothes his were discarded to the floor in a growing heap.

How marvelous Itachi was, she soaked in the very sight of him beneath her. Though a little uncomfortable propped atop him as if center stage, she occupied her anxiety by pressing her palms down on his stomach and letting her fingers branch outward over the glorious toned plains. The man's travel-tanned flesh was warm, firm, and very much scarred. Despite the signs of an unfair existence, he was beautiful. Following the contours of his muscle upward, along his chest and shoulders her touch and her eyes mapped out Uchiha Itachi's body from every freckle to every pore. What had been mere sensation had grown to an aching desire in her very core and she quivered dragging her teeth along her bottom lip before leaning forward to press her face between Itachi's head and shoulder.

The girl's supple lip on his neck and her hands exploring was a dual sensation that bordered overwhelming the patience he thought he had. Taking grasp of her hips, Itachi would grind her down on his hardening desire. Again and again he did this, till she surfaced with a soft sigh and cheeks full of color. Kanna's chest heaved in his line of vision, her pale full breasts pushed against each other creating a deep, sensual cleavage that had his hands reach. Fingering at the straps of her bra, they slipped down from her shoulders and suddenly she tensed. There was no reason to be shy and as he undid the front clasp and her breasts were eased free, he grabbed them in handfuls.

Such an intimate touch had chills race across her skin, from head to toe she was captured in this moment and for just this moment her troubles too were hushed. As Itachi felt Kanna, as he pinched one of her nipples between his thumb and index finger till it became hard, she unbuttoned and unzipped his pants. Scooting them down his thighs along with his underwear, he simply kicked them off. To match the exposure, he helped Kanna out of her panties and soon there was nothing between them but a throbbing anticipation that just about peaked.

Her body ushered up by a helpful hand, the tip of his member pressed up against her wanting entrance. Carefully guided back down, she winced as he slowly filled her with himself. Tense inch after inch, once there was no more to take she tilted forward so her fingers clutched at the pillow his head rested on. Long dark hair tumbling towards Itachi, obscuring Kanna's face, he took the time to gather her locks and move them over one shoulder, needing to see her expression as they again engaged in pleasures of the flesh. The girl was still until the Uchiha took her by the hips once again to show her just what to do. The motion was smooth, measured as he rocked her back and forth on him.

"Nn…" lips pressed together, a whimper escaped Kanna.

The very sight of her naked form propped atop him, moving in such a fluid motion was beautiful to Itachi. There still wasn't a single scar, not even the faintest hint of her clash with the Tsuchikage who had nearly smote her to a bloody ruin. While his body told tales of countless battle encounters, she was as flawless as cream and the bashfulness only made Itachi crave all the more. Every muscle, every moving contour captured his eyes while the scent of Kanna's naturally flora fragrant skin took his sense of smell far off to unknown meadows. The very tips of his fingers with their already firm grasp on her hips, pushed in deeper as now he lost himself in the incredible sensations of the kunoichi's body.

Outside their sanctuary Amegakure's rain increased, unleashing as the bodies high up in one of the many towers unleashed their troubles and frustrations on each other. Wind slanted the downpour, sweeping across the loft windows with a roar as the woman's hair swept across the man's face with hot labored breaths. Like the rise and fall of the storm, their tangled bodies hardly visible with the light of the overcast filtering through the drowned glass, rose and fell with moans only muted by the roaring black clouds of the heavens. Itachi guided Kanna's lower body from side to side before bringing her down to feel the deepest depths of her. When she gasped he felt his entire body quiver and his toes curl. Hardly a word was spoken; there was no need because everything felt was understood.

Time had passed and they hardly would have known if it wasn't for the changing light. The bed lay in lesser shape, white comforter barely hanging to the askew mattress, sheets twisted, sweat soaked pillows strewn about on the floor as the knotted bodies rocked back and forth in a fluctuating tempo of pleasure-filled voices and flesh on flesh. He saw her in every angle before falling into position where her legs tied like a white ribbon about his waist, his hands slapped onto to the bed headboard and their love making became so urgent. Bodies sweat slicked, an aroma filled the space around them and Itachi sucked it in through his grit teeth while his fingers squeezed onto the wooden frame, desperate to hold onto an unrivaled ecstasy that was threatening to spill over. He soon leant down to smash his mouth against Kanna's, a kiss that had him gasping through his nose and her eyes wide.

"Mmm…!" Fingers curled into the bare thread mattress, Kanna's body quaked with every strong thrust and soon her eyes flickered to the whites.

The expressions, the way she glistened in her little frantic fit and the way her breasts bounced, it was all too much to handle. Itachi's heart was hammering and he could hear the blood in his ears as control over his very own body vanished with oncoming defeat. Every muscle tensed, his very core quivered before a strangled moan escaped and those charcoal colored eyes with a spark from their burning passion ignited sharingan's infamous flame. Head slumped forward, peering through the veil of dark hair the magic of those eyes bore into the Haru's very soul, engulfing her like fires on a grassy plain.

In that instant their in-sync bodies gave in simultaneously. The result was intoxication, drunk off each other's flesh and the desire bent up inside. Itachi gasped for breath while spilling into Kanna, leaving him an exhausted and trembling mess. A bead of sweat hastily trickled down the bridge of the Uchiha's straight, thin nose. At the very tip it kept till dropping off, landing on the woman he hovered over. Like him, she too was shaking but still quite lost in ecstasy that appeared to him to go on and on. All the while her words were incoherent but her delighted whimpers were pure truths.

After a few moments Itachi carefully took himself out and off of Kanna to lie beside her on the bed. When she had gone quiet, when it appeared that she came down from their intimate high, the kunoichi curled up to simmer in it. In a dazed state, his elegant stare lazily rolled across the loft. Everything had gone dark all except for the streetlights outside that hardly shone through the windows high above the streets themselves. Still on the coffee table was the coffee he had made for them to drink, by now it had to be cold and bitter. It was nearly silent in the faint light that cast across the loft's wooden floors, slowly rising up the walls as the moon sank into the sky behind the green mountains that surrounded Amegakure. The loft being nothing but a large, flat open space allowed them from any corner to see out the two large windows. From the bed he could now view the southern side of the village and a white mist creeping in. It blanketed the lower-halves of houses that sat on the outskirts, their rooftops just barely showing. The mist's persistency nearly swallowed up the marshlands, making it appear like an ocean harbor amidst fog. However out of the gloom there was a sudden ghostly light of odd hue, it hovered above the murky marsh waters like a flickering lamp and as quickly as it appeared, it vanished.

"Did you see that?" he whispered.

Kanna laid beside him on her stomach now, hands beneath one of two pillows that hadn't gone overboard during their love making. Her limbs were tangled in sheets and yet she was too tired to correct herself. "That will-o'-wisp?"

"Yes…When I was small, I was once told and believed that they were _kitsunebi_, foxfire. I remember one night I crept out of my family home to the nearby marsh and all night I waited crouched in the reeds till my arms were covered in mosquito bites, just waiting to see an actual fox demon make magic," the Uchiha's head slowly turned, Kanna was staring back at him with an arched brow.

Lower half covered by the blankets, Itachi sat upright on the bed with his back to the now loose headboard. Face flushed, hair messily resting on his shoulders, the very idea of him as once being a child somehow seemed impossible. She had only known him as he is now, a handsome, silent, dark man. But the more she thought, the more her imagination worked its gears, her smile grew and grew. A vision of him being four or five that once seemed impossible became so sweetly clear.

"Kitsunebi? Wow, you were pretty gullible. That's sort of pathetic if you ask me," Kanna chuckled just before resting her cheek back on the pillow.

Itachi's once calm expression hardened, a bit offended. "I was a child, what do you expect? Am I not allowed a moment of gullibility or is that and clumsiness solely reserved for you?"

Back facing him he couldn't see how her smile deepened despite the fact he called her out on being clumsy. A part of her wanted to confess she was only clumsy when he was around but that would only embarrass her and weird him out.

Taking in a deep breath while feeling his eyes on the back of her head, she spoke. "When I too was small, I was once told and believed if you cut off a cat's tale, they won't turn into _nekomata_ when they die. So, I cut off the tail of my aunt's cat Go-go with a kunai one night."

"…?" Itachi blinked, that's all he could really do in effect to that terrible story. "Well, that's gruesome and I believe that's also called animal abuse. What sort of tale of innocent childish antics is that, really Kanna?"

The unusual sound of her laughter then resonated and her body shook a little with it. Slowly turning about on the bed, she rested on her other side to face him. Itachi stared with such seriousness but that wasn't new.

"Joking, I was joking. You didn't find that funny at all, did you? At this point I believe you're probably incapable of laughing because you're so serious Itachi. Can't you lighten up even around me?"

He huffed out to the side, "I'm capable of laughter. You on the other hand are simply still incapable of constructing a quality joke."

Perhaps that was true but he had to give her a little credit for persistence? Kanna yawned, eyes and the rest of her body sore and sleep even after two weeks worth sounded nice. Though she knew once her eyes closed and once sleep took, she would dream…that frightened Kanna. For two weeks that's all she had done was dream and in these dreams that were nightmares, time knew no bounds. All insecurities, every mistake had taken form to play over and over like a horrible day-time drama. For a moment she considered warming the coffee up to delay all that.

Itachi's shifting weight as he scooted down to lay back on the bed and beneath the covers, brought her out of thought. Head back on the pillow, hands folded atop his bare chest, he breathed out in relaxation and utter physical satisfaction. There was an odd air of silence that had him turn to peer at Kanna with curiosity though. He found the young woman curling her fingers into her pillow and appearing hesitant of something nearly a foot away from. It only took him a few moments to realize what exactly she was hesitant and unsure of. So an arm then outstretched and by the shoulders he brought her in close to rest against him. "Kanna," Itachi softly uttered accompanied by a small smirk. "Lighten up."

Laying there with a cheek pressed to his bare chest, her left arm found a comfortable spot across his abdomen. Lighten up? Maybe it was about time she took her own advice, this and much more. The color that flushed anew on her face, settled from a brilliant red to a subtle rose. The warm embrace of his body that smelled of salty sweat was soothing and she found herself much more at ease. This was nice it was also astounding how one person could ease her troubles, make her feel safe and wanted. Perhaps tonight Itachi's presence would ward off any unpleasant dreams. If not she looked forward to waking up to him again, the little bit of consistency left in her crazy life.

Again like she found comfort in him, he found comfort in having someone lay close. Haru Kanna in spite of his efforts was not afraid or harbored any resentment. On the contrary Itachi felt for once in a long time, important and admired by someone. To think this all built off of a pity for their similar misfortunes.

The woman now awkwardly curled by his side, probably still a little worried about somehow offending him, tiredly groaned and wiped the corners of her mouth. Itachi was reminded that she was quite efficient at the art of deep sleep, thus an unrivaled drooller. In a passing, somewhat humorous and gross thought he hoped not to wake covered in saliva.

"Can I ask you something?" Itachi broke the silence.

Just about to drift off to sleep, the Uchiha's deep voice had her cling to the waking world. "Hmm?" she replied, hardly stirring.

Kanna's eyes closed, she was unable to witness the softening again of his usually hard exterior as he gazed over her peaceful form. "In Akatsuki, what is your aim? What do you hope to achieve?"

Covered by warm blankets and against his bare skin beneath them, it was hard for her to stay awake and find the strength to part her lips let alone think. "Honestly, I'm not sure just now… But when I am, I'll be sure to tell you first," the kunoichi yawned again.

Itachi nodded his head once in understanding. "Goodnight, Kanna."

"Goodnight," she replied softly.

All went silent except for her thoughts behind pale lids and the sound of his beating heart against his chest and pressed up against her cheek. So carefully did Kanna listen to its strong thumping, never had the sound of a simple heart captivated her so. But this was not just a simple heart, it was his heart and it made the infamous Uchiha Itachi nothing more than a human, just like everyone else. But there was something in Kanna, something that wanted to reach out for Itachi's heart and keep it close, possess it, protect it. After all the kunoichi lost, this new person in her life became a new light and this light she would not ever let go out. In the outward glimmer of hope was born a brand new fear and that was somehow losing Itachi. But no, that would never happen. He was strong, he was feared…but what if that failed?

No. That could never happen. It would NOT happen.

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**A/N** Chapter 23 I'll be introducing Hebi, so that means...ugh, Sasuke. Yeah, I really REALLY despise him now. For obvious reasons. Also, I'll be bringing back a dead member of Akatsuki! Woot. Soo...please review? I wonder if people are still reading this, its been so long! xD


	23. Mission: Destroy Team Hebi!

a/n: this chapter is probably one of the shortest I've posted in a while. But since I haven't been posting frequently & people are already starting to message me, asking where 23 is, well...here it is! Hope you enjoy it.

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"…_what happened between us in Midori manor, in Amegakure; I cannot let happen again."_

She was ninety-nine point nine percent sure what had transpired between them in mere seconds hadn't been another nightmare. The reasons Kanna was so certain was because she had dreamed it all up once before. Itachi stood in front of her hazed by a drizzle in the middle of nowhere and out of nowhere he told her that what was between them had become tedious and bothersome, different than what had been said last night – and second, she woke the next morning _still_ sniveling. Late night tears left a sticky trail down the crease of her left eye and soaked the pillow beneath. Going into the bathroom after he told her those horrible words, she took the longest shower she had ever taken then sat in the tub to soak the longest she had ever soaked. The water would grow cold, making her skin feel slimy rather than soothed so she'd empty about a fourth of the tub then turn the nozzle labeled H all the way outward. Over and over she did this till her fingertips and toes wrinkled like prunes. It wasn't until an ungodly hour struck that she climbed out of the tub, dried off, and walked back into the room somewhat confident Itachi had to be asleep.

Feeling absolutely hideous in the morning now having not slept but instead simply laid in her bed still as a stone, Kanna lumbered up to get dressed as quietly as possible once dawn had approached. Seated at the edge of the bed which creaked, making her cringe because one creak could be more than enough to wake him, she zipped up her boots and grabbed her weapon holsters. Just about to turn the cold brass knob of their room door, Kanna paused to briefly flick a heavy stare over her shoulder. Itachi slumbered on his right side beneath the thin itchy blankets, back facing her like it had all night. Seeing him like that, sleeping what seemed so peacefully gave her bitter scowl the will to fend off self-pitying.

Though the hour was early those who worked the inn were up and about sweeping yesterday's dust out the doors and pushing buckets of sloshing soapy water across the floors downstairs. An elderly man, who wore his wrinkles kindly, waved a sinuous hand in Kanna's direction.

"_Ohayo gozaimasu_! How refreshing to see such a young woman up and about before the sun itself. The youth these days sleep much too late," he said with an accompaniment of hearty laughter.

Amazingly she was able to form a smile, pained yes, but a smile nonetheless. That was much better than replying, 'thank you for wishing me a good morning, but it most definitely won't be despite what you say kind old man. I would be sleeping late if there was not a force pushing me out the door!'

So out the front inn doors her boots met the weathered cobblestone and she unhurriedly followed them back out of Shunran. Dawn was dark, cold, and lonely. The moon was still high in the sky though fading into the all consuming indigo as barely a thin light haloed the mountains off in the distance. When Kanna was at least five miles out of Shunran where the dense wood had opened up to drop into a ravine, she just stood there in it. What had exactly happened last night and where along the road had she gone wrong? She had been on her utmost best behavior since Amegakure. She hadn't raised her voice at him, there was no name calling, nothing inanimate being chucked at his head – not even her hand had raised. Everything appeared to have been going well enough but then again how was she to know. Kanna hadn't ever been exclusively involved with a man before. Wait – scratch that, were they even technically exclusive? Could she say that Itachi was her boyfr…wow, it was impossible to even utter in thought because it sounded THAT ridiculous. The thought of it wasn't, of course she had the petty grudge against lovers that every teenage girl who happened to be single had, but the part she had a hard time grasping was that Uchiha Itachi for a brief moment had seemed almost attainable by the likes of her.

She weighed the opposing sides while measuring out the ravine for a training session. Amidst deciding that the high rocky walls would mute the sound of her ninjutsu, Kanna mentally jotted down that up until two months ago if not counting now, Itachi if he had the time took her out to eat or drink at some of his favorite traditional cafes. No one else he would invite but to shoot all that down, if someone like Kisame or Deidara had happened to come upon them by chance, Itachi would immediately scoot away and not even deign to give her a glance afterwards. There had to be reasons why he wanted to keep things discrete around the others but these reasons he never gave and they weren't clear enough for Kanna to even figure out. To be honest, it was infuriating how different he acted towards her when others were around.

'Could he be…ashamed?' she sadly wondered.

The vegetation in this area was poor, a majority of things that grew out here were merely showy, bright colored and overly exuberant with no real promising benefits to her repertoire of ninjutsu. What supply of seed packets she had were given to her by Zetsu, who could easily infiltrate their home village and bring such things back. Perhaps she would spend the rest of the day gathering what she could from these lands, anything would be better than returning to the inn to face him. A time like this a mother's advice was a dire need. Then again Kusahime wouldn't exactly be the best to take advice from when it came to matters of the heart. She abandoned her own children to follow her husband back to Iwa and look what became of her.

With all these little things assaulting her brain, they proved nourishment for the force behind her kicks and punches that fended off self-evoked veggie clones. Kanna combated her doppelganger, a simple beginning to what would be a very long session. She flung herself around the ravine by any opportunity that presented itself. Again and again her veggie clones splattered on all surfaces causing her to create another, each time with a bit more chakra than the last. Hand-to-hand combat was favored and it felt good knowing her skills had returned and the arduous practice had honed them to be better than ever before. Once Taijutsu was marked off, Ninjutsu was next on the agenda.

Feet firmly planted on the top of the poor soil Kanna's hands formed a ram seal to concentrate. A small bead of sweat rolled down her forehead as the air in the ravine shifted, what had been a complete natural silence seemed to have gone tense, as if every living plant organism had been ushered awake by the beckoning flow of her chakra and told to pay close attention. The last surviving doppelganger had taken a vantage point, crouched and hidden in tall grasses watching as its creator stood with closed eyes. What birds had been singing once the sun rose, had hushed or flown away with the insects.

"Okay!" She affirmed her readiness out loud with merely one hand sign - _mi_, snake. "Flora Release: multiple mouths!"

In that instant the silence broke and the earth behind the doppelganger split. Like vipers rising from the tall grasses, a giant six-headed _Dionaea muscipula _or Venus flytraprose with foul breath hissing through its convex lobes of meshed teeth-like protrusions. The plant-beast was taller than two full-grown men standing on each other and seemed to only stall its growth to strike out a head that opened its mouth wide and latched onto the doppelganger's left shoulder. She let out a scream of surprise being lifted and tossed mid-air where the mouths quickly and brutally dismembered her. All that remained hung in long swaying tendrils from the traps; the vegetation had not satisfied the plant's hunger for actual flesh and all this training hadn't satisfied Kanna's desire to vent this new frustration. She admired Itachi and yet after what he said she just wanted to…just wanted to do something – anything to understand! But there was hope that maybe it would all blow off. It wouldn't be the first time he said something and took it back.

For hours Kanna kept hidden in the bathroom. Itachi heard water sloshing in the tub and draining. A few times he thought she was about to come out and when she'd come out he'd explain himself. But she proved him wrong by running more water. When the light of the bathroom finally shown, it was a mere sliver cast on the wall he was aimlessly gazing at. Behind the door it was soon flicked off and Kanna's inaudible steps carried her to the other bed where she not-so inaudibly laid on the creaky mattress. Back to her, eyes still wide open, he too got no sleep and they unknowingly stayed up all night together with their backs turned. He hadn't ever felt so awkward in his life - this was sheer torture. Honestly, Itachi would rather have Kanna yell at him. It was much more predictable and he'd know how to deal with it. Yet sometime before the sun fully rose in the sky, she crept out the inn room leaving him pensive.

"What have I got myself into?" he angrily thought sitting up in bed.

Knees drawn to his chest, Itachi rested his arms on them and stacked his chin at the top. How could he make Kanna understand without hurting her? In any circumstance he was hurting her but if he continued to let this progress, hurt would turn into something far worse. The truth of the matter was his time on this earth was coming to an end much sooner than he had expected. Rather than the aftereffects of Mangekyo killing him in the form of the slow moving disease that ate at him as he sat, it was his little brother who would do the dispatching as planned.

In a fluid grace he rose to full-height and walked himself into the bathroom to shower then begin his daily regime of medication. He dry swallowed the first doses but like countless times before, washed everything down with a tasteless concoction that crinkled his nose despite pinching it beforehand. Afterwards the Uchiha washed up and threw on civilian clothes, leaving his cloak and hitai-ate behind as to not alert the people in this town. Even outside shinobi influence, a forehead protector and a black cloak with red clouds weren't the greatest of accessories to be discrete in. So out of the room, down the hall and stairs, he was greeted by an old man lugging a mop and bucket of water into a closet that neighbored the disorderly service desk. His wrinkles wrinkled when smiling.

"Young man, your lady friend left a few hours ago," he told.

At a pause, Itachi's charcoal black eyes turned their attention over to the man with question. "Which way did she go?"

"Hmm," the old man took a moment to pluck at the gray wiry whiskers on his chin. "Oh, of course! I believe she went east. Will you be checking out sooner then?"

He wasn't sure to be honest but still shook his head then made his way east. Outside there were more people on the streets than when they first arrived. He got less negative attention when entering a tea shop where his naturally quiet unassuming demeanor went unchallenged. Itachi drank his morning tea quietly but unable to enjoy the fine brew, Kanna and his little brother on his mind. At some point he had neglected his tea entirely so it became cold and unappealing. Elegant narrow stare gazing over the ridged shape of the clay cup, he noticed the print of his lips on the rim and for some reason imagined Kanna's lips enveloping it rather than his own. After a few more moments of daydreaming, the Uchiha stood up and drifted out from beneath the curtain of the shop.

It wasn't long that after leaving Shunran did he sense the flow of the kunoichi's chakra. From how it fluctuated it was safe to say she hadn't abandoned him entirely but went out to train, which he heard she did excessively now. Impressive, considering for a while he practically had to push her out of the manor back in Earth Country to simply practice chakra control. The Earth he treaded was soft from last night's rain, making his light footsteps sink in and the woods were particularly unkind as if warning him to turn around and go back, leave Kanna alone. But Itachi couldn't leave her alone and that was just the problem.

The bramble began to unknot and the thick trees receded to an opening. Itachi walked further to stop just before a lush ravine that plummeted straight downward before his toes. Random tree limbs he fastened into makeshift steps and descent gracefully without a sound. When he came across Kanna she was in full gear standing near and stroking one of many chins, if what she was even touching had a chin. Itachi took in a breath and exhaled heavily, not knowing where to start first.

"That's ghastly," ah, an insult always broke the ice.

Kanna continued to silently and possibly with affection, stroke beneath one of the plant's six-heads. Almost with the habits of a feline, the overgrown Venus flytrap pleasantly shivered at the tip of her small fingers before raising its head up to expose more green flesh. "It's not ghastly," she calmly replied. "It's beautiful."

From afar Itachi went quiet while studying her and also wondering what could possibly be beautiful about that thing.

Kanna's back was turned in his direction; he could make out a thin slick of sweat across her brow as wisps of steam rose from her form to the cold atmosphere. What broke his evaluative attention was a sharp hiss. The plant realized Itachi's presence and became restless, swaying back and forth as if caught in a breeze when really it was simply measuring him up. Kanna leant forward then, her face drawn close to one of its faces to hush it. After some beastly coos in what might have been response, the monster retreated back into the soil, leaving them alone in the ravine.

Itachi's usually impassive expression had weakened some, troubled and uncomfortable in this position he should never have allowed himself to fall into in the first place.

Another deep breath, "we need to talk."

"Yeah…okay," Kanna replied in a small voice, wondering if he could hear the weakness in her tone or the sudden twisting of her stomach.

His jaw stiffened, "yes. I'd like to explain about what I meant last night, about not allowing what happened between us to ever happen again."

"…," the kunoichi just stood there unable to make eye contact or even breathe, anxious any sound might impair her to his words. Still she hoped for the best despite this slow moving icy dread that crept, closing in on her heart.

At this moment she couldn't believe either what sort of position she found herself in. How was she supposed to react? A major part of her just wanted to hurl everything in her pockets at him like the girl's on late night television dramas. A lot of restraint had to be taken in order to not make a sort of scene she thought she might have grown out of.

In the solace of a shadow his true expression threatened to surface again and again, it was incredibly frustrating. "I won't deny that I don't deserve any of your hostility. But this is for your own good. There are things in motion that you do not understand…things that when they come to pass will only hurt you. Kanna, I'll only end up hurting you-"

That was not what she wanted to hear, not one bit – it wasn't even close!

"What do you know!" the kunoichi suddenly interjected and veered around in a big motion, flinging an arm outward to the side as if flinging his notions away entirely.

Itachi's stare slimmed and hardened, "could you for a moment simply listen to me?"

"No, I will not!" in her retaliation she began to advance on him. "You're just going to feed me some more cheesy lines about how you're no good for me. Don't insult me – I think by now I can make decisions like that on my own."

Cheesy, really? Is that what she called his honest concern? Kanna took a step forward and Itachi took a step back. The control he had hoped to have over this situation now seemed utterly impossible. One, Kanna didn't want to listen. Two, he for some reason lost his firm stance and was actually retreating? Itachi bit down on his bottom lip as his glare fought for dominance over the current situation. This was absurd! Palms sweaty, chest tightening, he shouldn't have ever let it get this far. Again and again the Uchiha was going over lines he had been tactfully scripting the entire sleepless night. Now though they just weren't able to make it passed his lips in proper fearless sentences. His desire was to soften the blow but no matter which way he thought to word it, she would hate him and he would hate himself all the more.

Suddenly Itachi turned away, the muscles in his face and neck tensed. "I can't be with you," he deadpanned.

Kanna's brown eyes flared open with a full-blown rage as her brows cinched tightly in the middle. "So, you're going to go back on your word huh? You're going to just walk off after you promised that you wouldn't leave me stranded?" She smiled almost manically, like she might just laugh but that was just the anger and disappointment sputtering out where it could.

"…." Itachi was unable to meet her gaze.

The subtle icy dread she had felt at the beginning of their conversation had devoured her being in a bizarre pain; it reached head to toe as a sinking in her chest crumbled to what might be an actual hole. How could this happen when things just barely started going right & how could he do this to her? She should have been sad and yet there wasn't any room for anything more than this sudden all encompassing bitter anger and what seemed like pathetic tries at an excuse only made things worse.

"You…you damn enigma!" she declared loudly. "Well hell if you're going to do it – do it, don't make excuses!"

When he meant to turn around and walk off realizing this was not going to get any easier, Kanna suddenly marched up behind and delivered a solid shove. Itachi hadn't poor footing so instead of stumbling forward into the grass, he stood as firm as a rooted tree simply wafted by a breeze that motioned his hair, but he was a little surprised she'd actually shove him at all.

Deciding to ignore the hostility where a more bastard of a man might right her with the back of his hand, he made to walk off once more but again she shoved from behind and all he could do was try his best to shrug it off. The little charade she had after Midori manor went up in smoke now, it wasn't like Kanna to act reasonably when upset. She would obviously rather give in to a tantrum. Sure it was a long fuse but a fuse nonetheless.

"Stop it Kanna," he softly warned back at her.

"Come on, do it," the Haru provoked yet he wasn't having it. "Fine, I'll do it – it's over, whatever THIS is," she gestured to the air between them, "it's over!"

This was not how he hoped things would go over and he had not imagined the physical agony of parting from her, it was if a chunk of cement fell into the pits of his stomach; she sounded so furious and final. Perhaps it was better that she hated him and yet he found himself foolishly reaching out for her shoulders.

"Don't touch me!" Kanna coldly smacked his hands away.

Fingers stinging, Itachi withdrew into himself. Yes, this was better then. For a few moments he was at a standstill, eyes running their gaze up and down Kanna, soaking her in because this might just very well be the last time. Unsatisfied by what conspired between them last night and just moments ago, Itachi meant to depart in a silent farewell, however once turning the Uchiha paused in order to convey a warning that again was only in the kunoichi's best interest. In the beginning that was all he ever truly meant and how disheartening that she could not understand.

"If you're smart Kanna, you will stay away from me for now on. Your little brother gave his life for you, so don't go and waste it following me."

It wasn't until his form began to shrink off into the distance did she realize what actually happened at all. It had gone down so fast that she wondered if it had been real or another dastardly nightmare. Franticness overcame her.

"No. No wait just a minute-" Kanna called to Itachi in a considerably kinder tone, "we're not really doing this are we? This is just a fight we're having." They've had plenty. "It'll be all right tomorrow, right? Right? Itachi - WAIT!"

He was gone, one with the shadows that sprang up into a fleeing murder of crow. The ravine was now so silent and yet she could almost still hear her hurtful shouts echoing off the stones as she stumbled back in retreat close to the ravine's walls not sure whether to bawl, scream, or smash her fist into something. Why?

'Things that are in motion I can't understand?' Why hadn't she just listened to him?

At this point she wasn't sure what to do or how to take this. It might have been pathetic but Kanna had included Uchiha Itachi in her dreams for the new future. With him no longer wanting to be with her, well…all those goals, dreams, aspirations fell in domino effect. There was an actual shame in this because it felt trivial. As her eyes began to sting, she willed the tears back to instead grit her teeth and wind up a mighty fist that slammed against the stone wall. Dust and sand choked the atmosphere and rose from the hole in the earth as a mushroom shaped cloud. When it dispersed enough to become translucent, the once solid wall had been decimated, flattened to a slope that led outwards and as stray rocks rolled toward her, Kanna meant to kick them aside but instead she stepped out of the way at the last second, a high frequency in her ear having thrown off her center.

"The summons," she darkly muttered to herself.

By now like all the others their sinister and mysterious leader called to her in the same high frequency like that of a dog whistle only penetrable to the shinobi mind. There was intense reluctance to even heed the call, whenever leader called Itachi was sure to also answer.

Hands inevitably formed the _hitsuji _seal so when she opened her eyes as an astral projection atop her corresponding digit of the demonic sealing statue, they met near total darkness if not for the other flickering forms in the cave and Itachi's included. She couldn't even glance his way.

"Has something ill happened Leader?" Toshio's soft, youthful voice hardly had the tone to echo off the walls. But it certainly had an eagerness to it that seemed to always flatter Akatsuki's' leader.

"You're late," he referred to the last member to join.

Put on the spot, something she hated in this instance, the kunoichi stuttered and formed an excuse out of thin air. "My apologies leader, I was distracted."

Following an organization blindly was one thing, it was an entirely different thing to be answering to someone she knew so little about in such a polite manner. Kanna could remember the last time she feigned such a diligent tone which was back in Kusagakure when addressing top nobles. In this case, there was actual fear to be had. The leader was not some hefty man draped in jewels with big pockets and in possession of a momentous ego. He was in fact someone so powerful that S-rank shinobi followed him without question; someone of Itachi's caliber followed. Kanna wasn't stupid enough to cop an attitude or withhold apology. Did she like the leader? Who was to say, such things weren't important to a shinobi. What was truly significant was what this organization could give her.

There was a deep laughter that resonated through the cavern. "Leader, leader," Kisame teased, "The youth are always so eager to please."

"What is the update?" suddenly asked Itachi.

Kanna flinched but no one seemed to notice.

Taking the floor, the leader of Akatsuki opened his eyes and the gray rippled pattern seemed to glow in the dark as sharingan did. "I have an urgent update I wanted to relay to you: Orochimaru and Deidara's murderer is headed in our direction."

The projections flickered simultaneously as everyone but the youth knew exactly who their leader spoke of. Kanna had not forgotten about Deidara's unfortunate demise since leaving for Shunran. Now whoever dispatched him and Orochimaru was on their way here. But for who? For all of them?

Toshio then asked the next question Kanna was thinking, however in a dispassionate way. "Who exactly did do away with those two?"

"Three, Tobi went also," Zetsu reminded.

"Maybe if you and Kanna-san were on time, you would have known and wouldn't have me repeating myself," the rippled eyes had slimmed some before ultimately eased shut as the man sighed. "Uchiha Sasuke."

The whole while they had been speaking, they had been in midst of sealing a beast. Hearing that family name threw Kanna off and her chakra had to stumble up before correcting itself. From what she heard and from what was common knowledge, Itachi had destroyed his entire clan. Of course there was a rumor one other person survived or was spared, whichever may be. So, could this be that one person?

"Another Uchiha?" Toshio cocked his head to the side with mild interest.

To relieve the boy's curiosity, Kisame gave an affirming grunt soon after. "Oh yes, Itachi-san has a little brother. Quite a skilled one if he can cut through both Orochimaru and Deidara. Heh, but would any of us expect less of your little brother?"

From across the cavern Itachi kept silent and his sharingan never faltered their straight ahead gaze despite Kisame referring to his little brother's efficiency.

"Of course not," calmly answered the leader, "But at this point he's grown a problem. It seems his next target is in fact Itachi."

"He's not alone," Zetsu interjected with his less sinister voice, "he's gathered members. Real troublesome ninja at that."

Everyone's interest peaked then because what ninja could be more troublesome than the Akatsuki themselves? A brief silence followed as they all waited for Zetsu to inform them further but it appeared he had to be urged to speak more.

"And…What's that mean?" questioned Kisame.

Their leader was the one to answer however, "You might just know one well. He is of the Hozuki brothers of the Hidden Mist."

Itachi's partner chuckled soon after. "You mean, Suigetsu? Ah that brings back memories-"

"And also, Jugo of the scales," no one seemed to know this name and their leader didn't seem to find him significant enough to go on about. "To sum up the matter at hand, Uchiha Sasuke and his team are to be done away with before they can complicate our plans."

Despite his outward appearance of complete composure where his sharingan rested as two bright red slits in the dimly lit darkness, Itachi's physical self somewhere out in the wilds having left the Inn, stood tense and troubled by what might just happen. He did not like where Pain was going, not one bit.

There was deliberation before their leader pulled his shoulders back and they all waited for his next orders. "Uchiha Sasuke along with his squad must be eliminated. Kanna, Toshio, I am leaving this in your capable hands. We cannot allow Hebi to progress. Is this understood?"

Like Itachi, Kanna's image of herself was blank of emotion. But her fixed gaze wavered to configure with Toshio's pale eyes. Simultaneously they slapped their hands to their sides and stood at attention giving their leader a deep bow.

"Wakarimashita!"

With orders understood, Toshio's physical form disappeared in a cloud of smoke and once it cleared a projection of him was left to continue the sealing like Kanna, whose eyes had drawn shut in a concentrated silence.

"Heh, eager youth," Kisame chuckled again once the newest duo in Akatsuki departed. "Hopefully you don't think ill of them afterwards Itachi-san. They're only doing you a favor. But, it is ironic isn't it? You captured Kanna-san's little brother, he died. Now she's going to kill yours. Works out nicely if you were to ask me."

Vacant of expression tasting mineral in her mouth, the skin on Kanna's knuckles was bloodied from taking out her frustrations on the surrounding area and now peeled, flaking to the ground like dried petals only to reveal fresh new skin beneath. At some point the sun had risen above the clouds and its rays lapped at her face. Staring directly up at it, Kanna squinted and could almost see the spherical shape of the morning star and with vision spotted she started her path back to the inn in order to recover what belongings still resided in the room. She left behind the ravine a little less than what it had been and she also left behind the setting of where Itachi severed their ties. But what Kanna couldn't leave behind was the feelings she had for the Uchiha. If it were that easy like misplacing a possession, she'd toss them behind her shoulder rather than haul the baggage.

_"Doushite?"_

About an hour later Kanna found Toshio on the bridge she had met Itachi on just last night. Her partner whom shared similar status in Akatsuki, being freshly recruited and also still a teenager, leaned back on the railing of the bridge with his head tilted to the right impatiently watching her unhurried pace. In the sunlight he looked out of place, willowy, dark-haired, pale of skin and pale eyed. Toshio did not smile but sneered as he adjusted with gloved hands the black steel armor fastened onto his left shoulder by leather belts and buckles. He only bothered cladding his opposing sword arm when assigned a mission that promised some serious difficulty.

"Why must you always take your sweet time? We're wasting that of our leader. I clearly heard the haste and urgency in his tone of voice."

Kanna continued at her speed or lack thereof till on the bridge where she stopped in front of Toshio but faced the oncoming direction. "Has Zetsu been by?" she calmly inquired.

"No," he arched a thin incredulous brow. "Not yet."

A warm breeze wafted by, taking their hair and tossing it across their youthful faces as they waited for Zetsu who always arrived with more in-depth information on their assignment just before they would set out. Toshio pushed away from the railing then, like Kanna in his left hand were the articles of their Akatsuki uniform: the cloak and the sugegasa. He believed the cloak only restricted their movements, slowing their reaction time. So they only bothered to wear them when traveling.

"Something the matter?" asked Toshio, sounding much more nosey than concerned.

"…," She gave no reply.

Instead Kanna just continued to stare across the bridge to where the woods cast a shadowy perimeter and before Toshio could press her further, he too looked out towards the woods where from the shadows on the ground Zetsu began to slowly rise. Once fully surfaced he walked in their direction and boarded the bridge. Standing taller than the both of them with his unusual appendages that made the intimidating shinobi look more like something Kanna might conjure up from the soil. However between the green convex lobes was a face with no explanation.

Golden eyes studied them carefully at first, probably wondering why they weren't yet in their cloaks. "Here, inside are pages taken from Orochimaru's southern base archives. You'll find your opponent's stats and also the coordinates of where our informants last recorded their whereabouts. From there it is your job to track them and of course kill them," ended his dark half while his light hand offered up a single thin blue file.

The team began to read through the file, taking special note and carefully calculating their opponents' strengths and weakness to their own. Apparently Hebi was a four man squad. Their leader hadn't mentioned a kunoichi with a particularly strong ability to sense and track chakra.

"We'll lack the element of surprise any way you look at it now," Toshio confirmed Kanna's suspicion. "But if we can achieve a field advantage, perhaps individualize them and hit hard and fast, we may be done with this before the sealing of the seven-tails is through?"

Both Zetsu and Toshio turned their attention to Kanna who hardly had it in her to concentrate let alone consider attack and formation. "Jugo is listed as a berserker type. Our best bet is to restrain him first so we can deal with Suigetsu and Sasuke uninterrupted, and afterwards we will dispose of him."

"What of the girl?" Zetsu grumbled.

"No threat," Toshio closed the folder to tuck it away within his cloak that he now slipped on and buttoned up. "If anything she'll be killed in the crossfire, eliminating her only abilities and that is to sense our presence and heal her comrades. The only question now is…who kills who?"

As one of the few remaining senior members of Akatsuki, Zetsu felt that the youthful duo were quite promising however their art of decision now had him a bit worried.

"_Janken, _that is how you'll make your decision? One where your lives are on the very line?" he was utterly bewildered as the youth came towards one another and held out their fists in the ready.

Toshio shrugged, "have a better idea? We're both equally matched and our team work is faultless."

Best two out of three was the wager and they began. Kanna took the first round, crushing Toshio's scissors with her rock. He then matched them up when his paper covered her rock and all the while Zetsu repeatedly blinked in astonishment as a drop of sweat slithered down his forehead baring witness to two deadly shinobi playing what might appear as an innocent game of rock-paper-scissors.

"Aw, you win," Toshio groaned sadly.

"How does anyone win?" Zetsu interjected. "I don't understand." They would both be fighting so this made no sense to him.

"Well, Kanna-san gets Itachi's little brother."

The kunoichi flinched again at the sound of the eldest Uchiha's name but again it went unnoticed.

Zetsu's light side still looked very confused. "Winning the right to fight Uchiha Sasuke is nothing to celebrate. Hmm…you both are very strange."

So now that they had a battle plan, the time to set out was better now than later. Draped in their cloaks, shrouded behind the paper sides of their sugegasa, they crossed the bridge to the other side with Zetsu following behind them. They would abstain from the roads in order to get to the informants designated area where they last spotted team Hebi, faster.

About to take their first steps into the protection of the trees, Toshio turned around to smirk back at Zetsu who had stopped now to see them off.

"Excuse me Zetsu-san but I wonder, can you play Janken with yourself?"

Zetsu's golden eyes narrowed dangerously but instead of pursuing a conflict he began to slowly descend into the earth from whence he came. "Deidara may have been hot-headed and arrogant, but you're a malicious brat."

With those last parting words Zetsu was gone and Toshio briskly caught up to Kanna. At the corner of his eye the young man searched the kunoichi's face for something.

"You didn't find that funny?" he pressed.

Though they bickered like any team, Kanna and Toshio could usually agree on sarcasm and shallow banter. In this case and in this moment, something was amiss with her because Kanna didn't even crack a smile. Instead her eyes were set straight ahead and her lips were sealed firmly shut. The seriousness that she projected was very strange and her partner began to speculate what could possibly have put her in such a mood.

To travel depended on the weather you traveled in. Rain and snow hindered but not today. Today there wasn't a single dirty cloud in the sky. Nothing but clean blue stretched high above them like the stillest and deepest of seas and floating in the midst of it all was the sun. Its rays broke through the trees, speckling their bodies with light that hadn't the time to burn since the shinobi moved so quickly, nothing but blips mid-jump and blurs mid-stride. However they did feel the temperature rising from the soil in the coming hours. Humidity was something hell sent and Toshio prepared to hear Kanna complain but she hadn't spoken a single word since they left the bridge.

Not about to stop completely since that would be wasting their Leader's time, he slowed their pace but it took a minute or so for Kanna to notice. However once she did, she too slowed thinking maybe he was a bit tired?

"So, can you do it?" Toshio asked, no strain in his breathing despite their pace.

Kanna this time responded. "Do what?"

Too fast for just any normal person but sluggish compared to their usual speed, they were both able to gather more detail of their surroundings. This part of the world was no longer dormant. Winter had gone and in its wake was nothing but overgrown everything in every shade of green. The air was thick with currents of pollen and seeds sailed by on fuzzy parachutes.

Allergies had him sniffle, "can you kill him, Uchiha Sasuke?"

"Do you doubt my abilities or something?" Kanna volleyed.

"Not at all. I'm simply questioning how far your feelings go for his big brother."

Though Toshio hadn't said the eldest Uchiha's name, just referring to him broke her concentration and a passing branch whipped her across the face. A rivulet of blood hardly had the time to streak down Kanna's cheek before the thin cut healed over.

"Oh, watch where you're going," Toshio mocked.

The initial sting from the branch felt of some reprimand for ever thinking someone with Toshio's deduction skills would never catch on. But playing dumb in this moment was quick to overcome.

"I don't know what you're talking about," Kanna calmly replied, attempting to keep her face straight but she felt the threat of a flush coming on.

Her partner snickered, "Do you think I'm a twit? Just the mention of his name makes you flinch and your incessant lateness is beyond just stopping to smell the roses. On top of that whenever he and Kisame coincidentally cross our path, your personality does a one-eighty. It makes a lot of sense two people being cooped up in that manor would develop some sort of inappropriate feelings towards one another. However what does not make sense to me is the fact it is Uchiha Itachi and you. I can't imagine him smiling let alone coddling you."

Rather than her cheeks flushing with embarrassment, they flushed with anger again. Toshio had a point and that was what happened to upset her. Itachi had from the beginning been withdrawn and cold. The fact she believed any different of him now sounded ridiculous and yet she wanted to desperately hold fast to the hope that everyone else that might look in was wrong. The truth always hurts.

Lapsed back into silence, she tried to press on but Toshio was relentless and enjoyed like no other figuring something out.

"Safe to say you spent last night with him. But something didn't go well…did it?" Toshio's milky eyes slimmed calculating her expression with her silence. "Maybe Itachi told you something you didn't want to hear or perhaps he decided to throw to the waste side whatever was between you?"

Odd how this conversation was going and odd how the weather did not correspond for once because from the day Itachi acquired her from Kusagakure, the weather seemed to have matched her indecisive and stormy emotions. Right now as she ran the sunlight was bright and their path clear, Kanna wondered what this could possibly mean. Even though every step felt like it was through sand or as if she treaded up stream, the clarity was consistent from the beginning to the middle. But what was at the end?

"Well Kanna-san?" Toshio continued from her right.

From where Zetsu left them, it was two hours later and the kunoichi witnessed how the trees were beginning to thin, exposing the grassy soils to the sunlight and the further they progressed the heat became more intense till everything was dry, withered, and rocky. They had penetrated a wasteland, the open expansion revealed nothing more than sharp cliffs, veining canyons and the sun seemed to have snuggled up closer to the earth. Toshio's question continued to hover beside Kanna's ear till she turned to him with an answer.

"Well Toshio," she could almost hear the pulse of the sun, "I think we're here."

Behind the duo were the brittle remnants of the woods and ahead was their path. They traveled amongst the rocky cliffs in a mutual silence as all focus was needed to spot their destination. Kanna and Toshio were two moving shadows hidden beneath their black cloaks with ruby red clouds. The heat was only absorbed by the morbid colors but one positive was the sugegasa, shielding their eyes from bright light that made the rocks glitter. Through the heat waves, over the harsh landscape when a mass began to form in their line of vision ahead another hour later, they both wondered if it was a mirage or not. But it was not, the mass didn't move away from them, instead they drew closer and closer till the mass stretched into the ruins of a small village.

"A village once all the way out here," said Toshio as they wandered through the splintered gates, "no wonder it was abandoned."

No wonder was right. The sun had bleached the shingle rooftops and dried out paint, causing it to flake on the sills of blown out windows. Pillars lay defeated by their decimated buildings and there was the odor of oil in the air. Skyscrapers stood to oppose the sun but to no avail, they simply baked like everything else and the heat waves were perfectly visible. The sight was very depressing but what they sought was inside this heap of rubble.

Gusts of wind brought with them fine dust between the desolate alley ways and soon Kanna with Toshio ducked into a building where they followed a stairwell down into a labyrinth of tunnels. Above their heads was piping and the air was stifling, however instead of oil an offensive strong ammonia smell assaulted their noses. Toshio held a delicate hand over his nose.

"God what is that awful stench?" he gasped.

Kanna's eyes watered, "cat urine. These ruins must be overrun with cats."

"That's right, nyaa!"

Both shinobi had their hands swiftly at their weapon holsters, stroking the handles of kunai with fingertips prepared to spring into action before a second could tick by. Kanna's eyes were directed further down the tunnel and Toshio's thoroughly searched the way they came but there was no one to be seen.

"Speak your names and reason for infiltrating our home unsuccessfully nyaa!" meowed the voice again.

"Ninja cats," whispered Kanna.

"Yeah, they're perched on the pipes above our heads," he confirmed.

Their eyes briefly flickered upward and in fact there were two tails swinging lazily back and forth above their heads. Safe to say there were only two ninja cat, the threat level took a steep drop and they removed their hands from their weaponry.

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a/n: ookay well since I'm on summer vacation & someone who enjoys relaxing at home, I hope to get 24 out by the end of the month. Thank you for reading & please do review, it let's me know that I'm just not writing this for myself & the pressure is helpful xD


	24. soraku

a/n: 24, ta-daa! Haha yeah I'm surprised that I've been able to update quickly. A month between chapters is quick for me. Those of you who've been with this story from the beginning would know that. Lol So anyway I'd really like to thank those of you who either review or tell me through PM what you think of the chapters. Really great to hear from you guys & thanks to this FF I've made some awesome friends. Here's to you, hope you all enjoy! :)

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"_Revenge doesn't make the pain go away. Revenge solves nothing."_

From the pipes the cats stealthily leapt to the concrete, landing safely on their paws a few cautious feet ahead of the cloaked intruders. They weren't of a particular breed but their little outfits, one blue and the other maroon with matching white sashes tied about their middles, were distinguishable enough. One cat was rather fat while the other was of healthier proportions and had brown tufted ears. They both appeared to smugly grin in Kanna and Toshio's direction as their tails continued to sway behind them.

"Putting your weapons away," observed the one with the dark points, "you two are either very confident or very stupid nyaa."

Toshio suddenly took a defiant step forward causing both feline to leap backward in alarm and hunch their backs. Hairs standing on end, they hissed in an aggressive sputtering display.

"Confident," Toshio answered, "because where there were three are now two. Humph, I saw you send a scout, he scurried off a few seconds ago before you established this dialogue with us."

"To get reinforcements," hissed the fat one.

Toshio's thin lips creased into a dainty crescent as he shook his head. "No, to warn. Also the way you act so anxious tells me you're incapable of little more than laughable intimidation."

Their whiskers tilted downward in a frown no one really would expect of a cat. "What a clever boy you are. Well I suppose Hina, we'll have to tear them apart right here!"

"Wait," Kanna stepped in front of Toshio. "You asked our names and reason for being here. I am Kanna and this is my partner Toshio. We don't want to fight you. All we want is to ask a few questions."

The cats exchanged doubtful looks but it was clear the odds were stacked against them.

"I am Denka and this is Hina. We don't answer freely to the likes of you, Akatsuki!"

"Let's just kill them and be done with it. I hate cats, they get hair everywhere," Toshio made to step in front of her again but the kunoichi's outstretched arm wouldn't allow him.

Suddenly she knelt down, the ninja cats kept their eyes on her as she did something even Toshio found odd. With her thumb she rubbed the surface of the dirty concrete floor beneath their feet. She examined the pad of her digit very carefully before holding it up for Toshio to see.

"The hell are you doing?" he wrinkled his nose in a sort of disgust.

"Huf, I thought you were supposed to be smart or something," she grumbled, rubbing the sticky resin from the floor between her thumb and index. "Anyway, since you said you don't answer freely…how about for a price?"

Toshio rolled his eyes while the ninja cats again exchanged looks.

"What sort of currency do you propose nyaa?" questioned Hina, sounding somewhat interested despite Denka's clear disapproval for any negotiation.

With the simple trace of resin on her thumb, Kanna closed her hand into a fist for a second before offering it forward to the ninja cats who hesitantly but inquisitively leaned in. Slowly opening her hand, in place of metal or paper cash was a tiny green sprout curling upward towards the asbestos riddled pipes and ceiling. It only took a single sniff for Denka and Hina to recognize nepeta, cat nip.

"How did you do that?" Hina meowed quite charmed by the trick.

The second Akatsuki snickered with impatience, "she's got a green fuckin' thumb."

"That's not enough, the fact you can grow that out of your hand is impressive considering the soil here can't grow a darn thing. But that's hardly worth a minute more of our time," retorted Denka.

Kanna nodded her head in understanding before taking full stance. "If you want more, I can give you more. In fact I can fill a whole room with this, but first we need our questions answered. So, is it fair? A room of this," she held out her hand again, "for a few answers?"

"One moment," Hina requested.

The two cats quietly conversed with one another for a few moments while Kanna and Toshio waited. When they seemed to have agreed, they came forward on all fours but Hina soon propped up on two and this time offered a paw to Kanna.

"Let us shake on it," she meowed.

The kunoichi took her paw. "It's a deal then."

After a single shake Hina went back on all four paws and made to follow Denka who was walking off into the darkness of the tunnels.

"Hurry up now, follow us nyaa!" echoed the male cat's voice.

The tunnels proved to wind on and on, to the point neither of them was able to properly memorize the way they came. Every right turn looked exactly like the left they took three turns back and there wasn't a single light that didn't flicker eerily. The entire way they followed the two cats, never once putting their guard down. Though they were simple ninja cat, that didn't mean there couldn't be worse waiting around every turn.

"Do you enjoy wasting time?" Toshio bit.

Kanna sighed. "If I had allowed you to kill them, we would have wasted more time trying to figure our way through here. We needed guides. I got us guides."

"Yes, through a shady drug deal no less. Your methods prolong everything," he added.

Their guides led them without failure to a hatch door and as it swung lazily open the stench of cat urine now mixed with the smoke of sandal wood incense. A large room opened up to them, one where dozens of cats lazily lounged across every square foot and their meowing made indistinct the dialogue coming from a dinky television with bunny ears, where a round old woman sat lotus style in front of and on a multi-colored, stained carpet. She hadn't noticed their presence till the hatchet door shut and a young girl across the room gasped.

"My, my…who did you bring to me today Denka and Hina?" asked the old woman who now slowly turned her attention to the new faces. "Hopefully they will be paying customers?"

"Nyaa, they are Akatsuki," darkly answered Denka who wandered to the old woman's right side.

"One smells of flowers," added Hina in a considerably lighter tone from the left.

From across the room a curtain shuddered in the background. The young girl, who had first initially gasped upon their entry, had hidden herself behind it. Perhaps she was use to retreating whenever troublesome looking shinobi penetrated the Sora-Ku's shop.

"I see," the old woman idly scratched the top of Denka's head. "Well, what does the Akatsuki want with Nekobaa huh?"

Taking into consideration how well Toshio handled the first situation, Kanna who hardly felt like doing anything since the happenings of this morning, spoke up in the kindest tone she could muster. Why be hasty and rude? That would only make the extraction of information more messy and difficult.

"Our sources have reported that Uchiha Sasuke and his team stopped here in Sora-Ku a few days ago. We also know that you use to run a munitions shop for the Uchiha clan of the Hidden Leaf. So we would simply like to know what exactly Sasuke purchased, where he is headed and if you could point us in that exact direction."

The questions seemed simple enough to answer but the old woman didn't jump right into it like Kanna had hoped. Instead she took out a long pipe, stuffed a wad of tobacco in it then lit the dried leaves with a match. Inhaling it deeply, she allowed the smoke to roll in her mouth before exhaling a thin wisp from her dry, wrinkled lips.

"My clients business is not up for conversation. I don't have to tell you anything dear, even if you were to ask me again just as nicely," Nekobaa took another calm puff of her pipe.

Suddenly at the corner of Kanna's eye she witnessed Toshio step off in a hardly traceable blur. It wasn't until a high-pitched shriek followed, did her eyes catch up. Now in the former cloud shinobi's possession was the young timid girl, a kunai pressed up against her trembling throat. Toshio's impatience when it came to these matters was very limited and all Kanna could do was slap her hand to her forehead with a heavy exhale of disappointment.

"Tamaki!" shouted Nekobaa. "Don't you dare harm my granddaughter!"

The cats in the room had all fled the floor, climbing up wooden crates to take refuge on the rafters. Tamaki whimpered fearfully feeling the kunai blade scrape against her skin as Toshio brought her forward from behind the curtain.

"Just answer our questions old woman, we don't have all day and your painfully plain looking granddaughter doesn't exactly enjoy the feel of my kunai so close to her jugular," he threatened.

Nekobaa gave a raspy growl but wasn't about to risk her granddaughter. Biting down on her pipe, she slid it from between her teeth as her head slumped forward in defeat.

"Here, I will give you a copy of their receipt," she leaned over then to pull a thin slip out of a tin box then handed it to Hina.

The fat cat brought it over to Kanna, who quickly looked it over before holding it up for Toshio and reading off what it said. "Medical supplies, clothing, they also had their weapons sharpened and mended here."

"Forgetting anything else?" further questioned Toshio.

Kanna looked back to the old woman whose scowl deepened.

"If you really must know every detail, one of them was quite large so we gave him a curtain in place of a cloak. That is everything. There was nothing more they needed. Now, let my granddaughter go!"

Glancing to her partner to see he had no intention yet of relieving his blade, she turned her attention back on Nekobaa. "We also desire to know in which direction Sasuke went after the transaction."

"…," the old woman hesitated.

"Nekobaa," Kanna rested a hand on her hip as she distributed her weight in a casual lean. "Regrettably my partner here has less patience than I do. This is really saying something. So it is vital that you answer our final question. Once you do, we'll leave you and your granddaughter alone."

Heavily-lidded eyes darting to and fro from Kanna to Toshio who had Tamaki, the old woman shook her heavy head. "I cannot be certain. He will go in whichever direction Itachi goes."

This information was insufficient. Their mission was to find and kill Sasuke along with his team, before they found Itachi. One might argue that a smarter way to go about this was to keep Itachi in one place till his little brother came sniffing, but he and Kisame were in pursuit of the nine-tails thus could not have such interference.

Studying the old woman's worn face very carefully, Kanna who felt she had exhausted this information source turned to her partner. "Let her go Toshio. I believe anymore time spent here will be nothing more than a waste."

"Perhaps you're right," he considered before discarding Tamaki to the floor. "Sasuke would not divulge such information outside his makeshift squad."

"Exactly," the former grass kunoichi agreed.

Rejoining at the center of the room, as the duo were about to find an exit they both paused in curiosity.

"I've known them since they were mere little kittens…" Nekobaa thought out loud as her granddaughter scurried to her side with Denka. There was a genuine sadness to her old voice. "Now they desire to kill each other. Last of their glorious clan…what a waste and what an utter shame. Vengeance is a poison. Sasuke must believe killing his only brother will be a justice and bring him peace."

"Oh Grandma," Tamaki rubbed the old woman's shoulder to sooth.

At a standstill with her back to the others, Kanna thought to the last hours she shared with Itachi back in Midori manor, before the rock shinobi burned it to the ground. On her way out of the bathroom after a shower she had stepped on a picture and plucked it from the bottom of her foot. After turning it over, her eyes came upon a handsome family of four. There was a man with a square jaw and a familiar stern expression. To his left was a soft featured woman and around her were two young boys who shared her beauty. Kanna had recognized the one standing furthest away from his parents as a young Itachi, no older than eleven or twelve. He had distracted her through most of the time that picture was in her possession, but she did recall the littlest boy in the photo to some extent. That had to be Uchiha Sasuke, the same Sasuke who was now out to kill Itachi.

Though he had never told her anything about his younger brother, some things were starting to make a lot more sense. Like the reason Itachi took pity on her. He had said it was similarities between them, but she hadn't known one of those similarities was having a younger sibling.

'Kouji…' Whenever she thought of him the failure and guilt weighed like stones fastened by ropes to neck. "To kill one's brother…is unthinkable," she muttered, but her voice then rose to a serious clarity. _"_Revenge doesn't make the pain go away. Revenge solves nothing."

Everyone blinked quite surprised by the kunoichi's firm opinion. Nekobaa however looked a bit more intrigued. "Really, and what do you know of this matter dear? You're after Sasuke, so I presume you mean to kill him for Itachi?"

Kanna for some reason was shocked to hear such an accusation. "Itachi-san wouldn't want to kill his own little brother," she blurted with reason.

What was she saying? Kanna wasn't certain of this but something didn't seem right. She dared to think that the Uchiha Itachi she knew, not the one Toshio or the others saw stoic and eerily polite despite their rudeness to him, would want to harm his own little brother.

Toshio suddenly scoffed while slipping his kunai back in its holster. "Do you hear yourself Kanna-san? He had no problem wiping Konoha clean of his clan. What's one more that probably hid beneath the floorboards during the massacre? Obviously your little romance has blinded you. Don't make Itachi out to be anything more than a sociopath because that just makes you sound very ignorant."

Kanna stood there incapacitated by her partner's words that resurfaced an ugly truth. Even before she laid eyes on Uchiha Itachi in person, like every shinobi she was told to flee rather than engage the man who was evil enough to slaughter his entire clan. Itachi was a cold-blooded murderer in the eyes of an industry of murderers. Yet this truth came as a surprise just like the accusation of him wanting to kill his own little brother. For some reason what defined Itachi to the world had become nothing more than a rumor to Kanna. Or at least, that's what it felt like. A horrible rumor she was big enough to overlook, never entertain and yet never able to really forget.

Delighted by a clear checkmate, Toshio sauntered passed Kanna towards a door designated as the exit by the evening light that glimmered through a peep hole. Incapable of further reason and frankly embarrassed by the situation, Kanna made for the exit as well. However a soft yet cold hand reached out to take her by the wrist.

"Young lady," started Nekobaa in her raspy voice as her heavily lidded eyes glazed over in what might be mild cataracts, focused on Kanna's face. "Don't let them do it, don't let them make such a terrible mistake."

Unable to make eye contact, fearful the old woman's blinding stare might see too deeply, Kanna studied her splotchy hand instead. "What makes you think that I can do anything?" she muttered unconvinced.

"Hmm," Nekobaa hummed in consideration as she turned Kanna's hand over and oddly sniffed her palm. One gaunt finger now traced the fine lines on the kunoichi's palm as if following the rivers on a map. "Because I'm a very old woman and I see that you've wandered down many paths, but only until recently have you found the right one."

Uncomfortable and about to as kindly as possible take her hand back, Nekobaa tightened her hold. "I see your desires," she continued, "they're very bold. But let me say that the only way you'll get what you want is if you keep following this path and if you fight for what you want. Do you understand?"

"Can I please have my hand back?" the kunoichi said but rather than wait longer, tugged it out of Nekobaa's possession. "I'm sorry but I really need to be going."

"What of our deal nyaa?" Hina yowled after her.

"Open the door you led us here through, you'll find I didn't forget," answered Kanna.

Toshio had already left and as she was about to pass through the door, Nekobaa called to her one last time.

"One more thing, take care of yourself Haru Kanna because you're fragile."

Crisp clean air filled her lungs as she treaded through the rest of Sora-ku's ruins alone. The sun had fallen from the atmosphere so the only light guiding her through the winding alleys was the glow of the stars. Somewhere was the moon, perhaps hiding behind the clouds that flowed across the dark sky like mud into a river after a heavy rain. By the time she saw any white light, she found Toshio waiting at the edge of the wasteland.

"So, what did that old woman babble to you after I left?" he inquired while running his fingers through his bangs that strategically lay over one eye.

At first he turned to see Kanna gazing quietly up at the trees, pensive and paying him no mind. But upon a second glance her eyes burned into his. What followed next Toshio hadn't expected at all, only because it happened so quickly there hadn't been time to form a single thought.

A good ten feet between them she closed it in less than a fourth of a second and the last thing he saw before going airborne, was her booted foot shoving itself into his unprotected abdomen. Toshio went rocketing through the trees, missing everything but the thick trunk of an oak, his back with that much momentum slammed through like a well-swung wrecking ball. It wasn't till he touched down, skidding through rocks and pine needles for a good quarter of a mile, did pain catch up. Eventually he had to stop and when he did he found himself sprawled out in a foot of cold water on a bed of rocks.

Appearing before the crawling stream her partner wound up in, Kanna carefully went ankle deep and approached Toshio in no real hurry. He wasn't going anywhere and was clearly incapable of a counterattack while desperately trying to recover from a serious case of whiplash. Knocked senseless, literally, he blinked up at Kanna's furious expression before she stopped, knelt down, reached out and latched a small hand around his throat. With strength he could only think capable of someone related to the former Tsuchikage, she held her male counterpart eyelevel.

"I'm not exactly sure where or when along the way you thought it was a good idea to take our playful banter and start disrespecting me in front of others," her clenched teeth were like two strings of pearls and her voice had dangerously lowered. "But let me take this moment to remind you Toshio-san, that I am more than a match for you and to dare believe anything else just makes you look very ignorant if not _very_ dead."

Unable to move he was soon unable to speak as she squeezed his throat tight making his eyes bulge. After a few more moments face-to-face trapped in her grip, Kanna's soft features began to blur together, an effect thanks to lack of oxygen to the brain. When she finally let him go, he clattered and splashed to his knees gasping.

"Now," Kanna crossed the stream calmly as if she had simply closed her anger up. "We should travel to where Deidara combated Sasuke. From there we might be able to track him without bothering anyone else. So, collect yourself and let's get going."

* * *

_"You've always wanted to surpass me little brother. That's why I'm going to let you live…if you wish to kill me, then hate me, detest me and by all means flee, cling to your wretched life. And someday, when you have the same eyes as I, you will find me again."_

Those words…those haunting words…

"Be quiet," whispered a steely voice from the dark behind eyelids. "Let me sleep, just this once."

Natural silence was a rare thing to come by when one traveled with a band of unlike minds and shaky loyalty. For once he could hear it though, a silence where the clatter of a city came as a soothing surprise that drowned out his older brother's uncompassionate words. There was carefree laughter now, babies crying, merchants shouting out price cuts and all that accompanied by the smells of roasted meats and batter began to lull Uchiha Sasuke back to sleep. However he never really slept too deeply. Or to be more precise, Sasuke was unable to enjoy a deep sleep. There was far too much going on in his head to allow such a luxury. Too many thoughts, too many voices pointing him in various directions, and no matter how he tried to purge them out he always ended up mulling over regrets long passed.

"_He's out there…somewhere,"_ Echoed a fragile fragment of his childhood, louder than the noise outside the youth hostel. _"My big brother; I promised myself that I'd stay alive…to kill him."_

A long time ago he told Naruto those exact words when he thought his pursuit of vengeance would be cut short on that bridge. If not for Suigetsu who unknowingly took him back down memory lane with that brief visit to the Land of Waves, he might be getting a bit more sleep. Well, perhaps not. Sasuke lay there tucked in on a futon as his body mended far quicker than it ever could before he absorbed Orochimaru into his being. This along with the increase of power were unquestionably a plus, however his skin crawled day or night knowing Orochimaru was now a part of him. But in order to kill Itachi he would need all that was accessible, all the power he could attain. Itachi was something else. If he could decimate their entire clan in one night, make little of Hatake Kakashi and go on unchallenged by Konoha hunter-nin for eight years…well Sasuke had to be more effective than all that.

Still sore and groggy, with his dark eyes drawn shut he continued to listen to the city. But as he expected the peace was short-lived. A loud crash, a ferocious snarl and then Karin's unnecessarily loud voice cut into Sasuke's ears like a piece of jagged glass. Brows pinched, he didn't even have to guess what was going on beyond the shoji doors.

"Disgusting, that is what your chakra is to me!" the red-headed kunoichi hollered.

"Heh," Suigetsu sounded considerably calmer. "Your face is disgusting to me, but I don't go on complaining about it all the time now do I?"

"Why you - !" Against the screen, Karin's shadow threw back her hand but before she could strike Suigetsu, Sasuke spoke.

"Keep it down in there," he drawled.

She froze, her limb trembling in rage before ultimately letting it fall back to her side. Suigetsu's shadow leaned forward to part the screens to get a gander on how Sasuke was. The Uchiha's eyes flickered open to see the shinobi formerly of mist flashing a toothy grin at him.

"That's right, chill out Karin. Your beastly mannerisms freak me out," he heckled. "Also, how is Sasuke supposed to sleep when you're barking like that?"

Shoji only parted enough for a head, Karin forcefully spread them wider so she too could look in on the Uchiha. At first her face was furrowed with apology and concern but she quickly adjusted her dark-rimmed glasses and went back to shooting daggers at Suigetsu.

"He's fine you moron and he'd be sleeping if not for your complaining. It gets on my nerves and frankly I wish you would just get the hint that you're only ever going to slow us down," she crossed her arms and nodded.

"What the hell are you talking about?" Suigetsu raised an eyebrow. "You started hollering at me after I told you not to disturb Sasuke. He's wounded and ice cream isn't exactly going to make him feel any better."

"I don't like sweets," Sasuke sighed.

A grim look on Karin's face surfaced but after a discrete little toss that sent the ice cream cone out a nearby window, she innocently cleared her throat.

"Probably put a roofie in it anyway," Suigetsu muttered as he fully opened the doors.

Able to see through to the rest of the room, Sasuke found Jugo with a highlighting pen and map, marking the seven Akatsuki hideouts like he had asked him to. Upon realizing the Uchiha's gaze, the giant of a man quietly walked his way to the windowsill where the wild birds were collecting, probably with no more information than they had an hour ago. Frankly Sasuke had no idea how Jugo could communicate with woodland creatures. But he highly doubted Orochimaru had to do with it.

Hebi had no specific information on Itachi yet or his whereabouts, even after they split up to do their own individual digging. All they had managed to find was based on Akatsuki as a whole. That included some information on what they were exactly after and of course the number of hideouts they had. Sasuke found it discouraging that there were seven hideouts, seven different places Itachi might or might not be.

Seated upright after some effort, Sasuke's head hung down and he swayed briefly. The first encounter with an Akatsuki member had not gone as smoothly as he would have liked. In fact it had gone miserably. Dark hair disheveled, pale skin still smudged with dirt and blood, a brief glance to his reflection in the closest window showed he looked more like a freshly bandaged mummy rather than a formidable avenger. 'If not for Manda absorbing what blast we weren't able to escape in time, I wouldn't have survived. Damn it…he was just one. A single member of Akatsuki and I was reduced to this,' he grudgingly thought.

"Hey, you alright?" Suigetsu unknowingly interrupted.

Head still hanging down, the others began to suspect Sasuke had fallen back to sleep. But they were wrong, he was somewhere in between. Too tired to respond but still conscious enough to think, he just sat there on the futon. Today was another step closer to Itachi, a step greater than he ever could have achieved if he had stayed within Konohagakure. Once vengeance was served, Sasuke was certain that everything he had forsaken in pursuit of the man who destroyed his clan, would all be worth it.

As the gap between the waking world and the dream world began to close, it was Karin's voice that again tugged him back to consciousness. This time however hearing her was beyond painful. For what might be the hundredth time, he inwardly questioned why he bothered to form a squad at all.

"Sasuke, wake up!" Karin had exclaimed, dashing towards the window.

Jugo scooted back as she leaned over the sill, scattering the birds. Red eyes shut in concentration, her expression became more severe as the seconds ticked by and her amazing ability to sense the energy of others focused. "We are being tracked. I sense multiple chakras…" she relayed.

"How many?" Sasuke softly questioned, nearly interested.

"Six…seven…nine – one of them isn't human, perhaps a dog. But they're moving quickly and in this direction," Karin recoiled from the window. "What do we do now?"

"Nine," he repeated. "That's a strange squad number but considering Leaf makes use of ninja hounds, it is undoubtedly them."

"Stay and fight?" suggested Suigetsu.

Sasuke shook his head. "We run. Get everything ready. Jugo, don't forget the map. As soon as we leave here, our destination will be the closest Akatsuki hideout."

Not yet fully healed but in much better shape than he had been when they first arrived at this youth hostel, Sasuke threw the covers off and once the others left to gather their things, he dressed. The yukata supplied by the inn fell from his youthful body, revealing toned flesh without a mark to tell the tale of his encounter with the Akatsuki member, Deidara. A clean outfit all in order, he tossed what was dirty into a trash can and grabbed his effects. In about ten minutes Hebi was packed and ready to move out as a unit with only one purpose, to find Uchiha Itachi.

Departing the room and city entirely, Sasuke faced the oncoming trees with Suigetsu, Jugo, and Karin behind him. A gust of wind picked up their cloaks and brought Leaf closer. At a standstill his smooth, pale facial features curtained and accented by dark hair, did not let on to what was on the inside. His heart beat anxiously – hungry for revenge and yet it also felt as if it would seize up. Leaf was hot on their heels and he was sure Naruto along with Sakura were part of the squad.

"Persistent," he breathed softly to himself.

"Hmm?" Suigetsu came up on Sasuke's left.

"Nothing, but we need to move quickly. There cannot be rest as long as we're being pursued."

"Wait," interjected Karin. "Are you sure you're in the right health for this?"

Jugo appeared to back up the kunoichi with his own worried expression. But like with everyone Sasuke ever knew, he brushed off their concerns.

"We have no choice. They're tracking us so even if we were to dramatically alter our course to find a place to rest, they would find us," the Uchiha stepped off the ground, launching himself into the trees. "Besides, since absorbing Orochimaru my body recovers much faster."

Hebi immersed themselves in the tree canopy and bound from limb to limb, hardly stirring a leaf. According to the information they got on the seven Akatsuki hideouts, the closest was a few hours away.

"_Big brother, no matter how dark the path, I will forge ahead in order to kill you! No matter what, I will gain power!" _

So he has and so he treaded forward in search of Itachi. There would be no stopping Sasuke now. Though he would have to comb the lands for the man who damaged him most, he would do it with the keen eyes and unrelenting merciless hunger of a lone hawk. Whatever brotherly bond had been between him and Itachi had rotted away and all that remained was the bare, broken bones of what use to be.

* * *

Sora-ku was far behind Kanna and Toshio, as was the night. If there was one thing they were good at, it was covering ground quickly. Their partnership had not been based on complementing abilities; in fact they had just been thrown together since Akatsuki's numbers began to dwindle. It was purely good fortune that they worked well off each other and neither one held the other back. However, though their abilities complemented, that in no way said they were equal. Just outside Sora-ku, Toshio had forgotten that and though Kanna made it clear to other's she was not one to boast, she had taken the initiative to remind her partner who was who and that she was fed up with his disrespect. Now he walked behind her, deathly quiet in his defeat and all the while she felt his eyes burning a hole in the back of her head.

As she made good use of the silence by thinking about what the old and most likely senile cat woman had said, Toshio clearly was spending it upset. "Those like you were the entire reason I cut ties with my village," he suddenly declared.

At first she wasn't going to entertain him with a response, but even if she didn't he'd still talk. Toshio enjoyed the sound of his own voice after all.

"Those like me," she repeated. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Those with kekkei genkai," he responded bitterly, as if she were playing dumb.

This clearly wasn't going to go away in a few minutes, so Kanna would leave her thinking for another time. "I've wondered why you left Cloud, but I never was nosey enough to ask."

"Don't worry I don't have a long tragic story like you do Kanna-san. I simply was tired of those born with 'gifts' running things. Apparently no matter which country one may travel to, those with kekkei genkai believe they're superior. But to be honest, if you're so superior...how come there are so many like you: the last of their bloodline?"

Unpredictable angry outbursts was an aspect of the grass kunoichi's personality she desired to fix or at least somewhat tame. The whole reason behind that came from Itachi stating his clear displeasure with what he called tantrums. So taking in a deep breath, Kanna reminded herself that Toshio only wanted a reaction out of her in order to have an excuse to feed their leader, as to why they combated, thus delayed their mission.

Over the shoulder Kanna looked Toshio up and down from between the slips of paper hanging down the brim of her sugegasa. "Because of those like you," she flatly responded. "But it is human nature to destroy what one fears and cannot control entirely."

"Humph, even your answer reeks of arrogant upbringing. You clearly believe you're stronger than me because of your blood. Well Kanna-san I hope you know once our leader gets Akatsuki's affairs in order, the world will lean on us equally."

"You have some serious inferiority issues," the kunoichi rolled her eyes then turned back to the oncoming wilderness. "And you're right - I do believe I am stronger than you. And you're right about one more thing: I am superior because of my kekkei genkai but that doesn't mean I'm not inferior to others. Once we find Sasuke, you and I will be equally inferior to sharingan."

As they went on, the trees began to thin but not as trees naturally would. What ones weren't ripped from the roots and strewn like dead bodies, were bald and leaning outward from the ground, looking much more like crooked toothpicks. Both shinobi noticed this and knew it meant they were close to ground zero. Toshio had caught up to Kanna somewhat, daring to only put five feet between them despite what he had been subjected to earlier. But suddenly his partner came to a halt, one that had him flinch, thinking she might just turn around and attempt to deck him again. But rather than do what he clearly deserved, Kanna simply stopped because if she walked any further she'd tumble into a massive crater.

Deidara's final explosive work of art had consumed him and left an extensive wound on the earth. The scar reached far and wide, having pushed back the forests, leaving the two Akatsuki beneath the bright sun's scrutiny. There was not a single sign of life or clue amongst the rocks and debris so they eventually had to slide down into the crater itself and what they came across was quite a breakthrough.

"Do you feel that thin air?" Toshio called from the other side of the crater.

"What do you mean?" she was knelt examining the ground.

Toshio had clearly put their little disagreement aside for now. "Whenever there is unusually thin air and when you can mark off high elevation as the reason, it's safe to assume a _Jikukan_ ninjutsu or space-time technique has been used. The effect of ripping open another dimension is damage to the space around it. In time of course said effect will disperse. Thankfully for us, the time can be as long as two to three days and it has been two days since Deidara fought Sasuke here."

"Ninjutsu like that is pretty advanced. Do you think Sasuke used it to escape Deidara's explosion?"

"Most likely," Toshio now was scouring the perimeter of Deidara's big bang, "since he's still alive, also considering the size of this crater. I don't think he'd have any other way of escape. Sadly a problem rises now. Since we can deduce Sasuke used a time-space ninjutsu to escape, there is no possible way to track him. His footsteps and scent would end right here, leaving us with nothing."

Still knelt on one knee, Kanna's attention had been grasped by the evidence of multiple pairs of foot prints. If these people all wore different sizes, it was safe to assume there were seven of them and a small pack of dogs.

"Toshio, doesn't Konoha utilize ninja hound often?"

Perimeter clean of anything useful, he walked over to the kunoichi and stood beside her. "As far as I know they do. Konoha is home to the Inuzuka clan after all."

"Also to Hatake Kakashi," she added in an afterthought. Kanna stood up to reach into the interior of her Akatsuki cloak. When her hand resurfaced, pinched by its spine was a Grass bingo book. Sandwiched between the pages and sticking out like condiments were brightly colored sticky tabs to which an electric blue led her to the exact page and person she spoke of.

Toshio waited as her eyes speedily went left to right. "So?"

After a few more seconds Kanna resurfaced from the worn pages. "Good news and bad news. The bad news is a Leaf squadron possibly including Hatake Kakashi is in pursuit of our target. The good news is they went that way a few hours ago and now we have a solution to Sasuke's disappearing act. Wherever they're headed, we'll get there faster."

"Hatake Kakashi…now that you say his name," the young man's eyes turned upward to the blue sky in thought. "That could also possibly mean the nine-tails jinchuriki is a part of this squad."

Kanna suddenly huffed and shook her head in clear disapproval. "Don't bite off more than you can chew. Besides, that's not our task. We need to find Hebi and we need to find them before the Leaf does."

They agreed in a mutual silence. As they stood amongst this silence a peculiar sound had Toshio arch one of his thin brows. "Di-did your stomach just growl?"

Kanna looked off to the side and pursed her lips. "No. Not really…"

"Yes it did. It sounded like a dying animal. Come to think of it, I have not seen you eat a single thing since we departed the base," Toshio looked somewhere between suspicious and appalled. "Are you on a diet?"

The kunoichi incriminated herself by turning red as a cherry. "I am not!"

This time Toshio rolled his eyes. "Unbelievable. You have it bad, so much so I feel sorry for you."

"Ha-have what bad?" she demanded. "We don't have time to eat. Even you have to agree with that?"

Toshio walked his way to a boulder while wafting a hand to waft away the stench of Kanna's infatuation with Uchiha Itachi. "Quit playing dumb. Now let's just rest for an hour or so, eat, collect our thoughts, line up the plan better." On the boulder he sat.

Defeated by his suggestion and the clear desperate hunger of her stomach, Kanna nodded and took a seat on a pile of neighboring rocks. Toshio reached into his cloak to remove a scroll that burst open with a cloud of smoke. Once it cleared there was an assortment of packaged and preserved food. He took a small jar of mixed nuts for himself and tossed Kanna a bright orange package of dried squid.

"Pass, I don't like seafood," she tossed it back.

"Eat something," he urged, "hunger is a distraction and we need our wits about us."

In place of squid jerky, Toshio gave Kanna a plum riceball. With no further complaints except for a grumble about how tightly sealed the package was, the kunoichi took a big bite. There wasn't any immediate conversation to follow. Both shinobi focused on the first real hour of rest they had allowed themselves since embarking on their journey to find Hebi. Once they had their fill however and their trash was put away with the traveling scroll, they acknowledged each other again.

"Say Konoha locates Sasuke before us: If they kill him, our mission is as good as complete," Toshio had opened up his cloak, hoping to attract a little breeze to ease the intense rays of the sun beating down on them.

"True," replied Kanna who fanned herself. "But we can't take the chance that he could possibly slip through Konoha's fingers."

Reaching down to pick her water bottle up from beside her foot, Kanna held the rim to her lips. Something about plain water tasted odd, just like seafood. But her partner's accusation that she was on a diet couldn't be further from the truth. The reason behind her lack of eating was as simple as too much on the mind. With so many thoughts jumbled up in her head, something as natural as eating had been forgotten.

As she drank, her brown eyes gazed out across the deformed earth. This place was where Deidara had fought Itachi's little brother and lost. From what Zetsu had said, Deidara committed suicide in the name of his art and she couldn't help but think that was a rather fitting end to the clay master.

"Sure went out in a real bang," snidely commented Toshio.

A little startled as if he had peered in on her thoughts, Kanna nodded her head. "I don't think he'd have wanted it any other way." She watched now as her partner began to turn the ring that had formally been Deidara's, around his knuckle.

"Were you as close to him as he led everyone else to believe?" Toshio inquired.

"We were friends. My first impression of Deidara hadn't been great but towards the end I knew he only meant well. It really is too bad that he's gone now, because I never got the proper chance to thank him for his help," Kanna's nude lips pressed together and she appeared sad.

"I see…" Toshio cocked his head to the side then. "So you did sleep with him often?"

"He said WHAAT?" she exclaimed, fists suddenly seized up and a vein above her brow throbbing.

"Yeah, he told all of us you two had something special," her partner grinned clearly amused.

"I never did anything like that with him!"

Toshio looked unconvinced. "Hmm by the quality detail I'm not quite sure who to believe."

"Quality? Detail? What did he exactly tell you –" All color suddenly drained from her face.

Before Kanna could finish the sentence, she felt something - a something like a something crawling across her backside. The first thing that came to mind launched her five feet in the air, shrieking, furiously tearing at her cloak and sweeping her hands across her body.

"Oh my god something touched me! Is it a spider? It is a spider! Toshio there's a spider on me!"

Toshio got to his feet, really only to avoid the kunoichi's rabid flailing. "Kanna I can't see anything when you're moving around like that. Besides, whatever was on you probably fell by now. You're scarier than anything out here anyway."

The kunoichi took her hysterics away from the pile of rocks she had been sitting on, so Toshio went over to inspect, leaving her to dance around behind him. What he found neither of them would have expected to find out here.

"Kanna-san," the young man's pale eyes were wide with surprise. "Come over here. That wasn't a spider you felt, it was a…hand?"

Freezing where she stood, she wondered if she heard him right. "A hand?"

"Yeah, a hand…and some arm too. Get over here," Toshio moved aside as she came over.

Just as he said, there was some arm sticking out from the pile of rocks and a hand was blindly groping for the sky. However specific characteristics said this hand and arm didn't just belong to anyone. The long fingers with purple nail polish opened up to reveal a mouth with teeth and a tongue. Kanna and Toshio exchanged looks of utter surprise.

"Deidara-san is…alive?"

* * *

a/n: ooh snap, Deidara is alive? xD  
Okay I reeally didn't like how the Hebi scene went. My hate for Sasuke made it difficult to write for him. Also Itachi wasn't in this chapter & this FF is about Itachi. Sorry, but he will show back up in 25.

So tell me what you guys think, did I really suck with Hebi? Lol Also if you go to my profile, there is a poll I'd love for you all to take. Basically its about me writing a second FF :) Thanks for reading everyone!

-constance


	25. Deidara Lives & Itachi's Warning

a/n: Thank you for the kind reviews & subscriptions. So happy to know that this FF hasn't gone totally off the radar. Anyway, I'm finding it a little difficult to transition Itachi into the Itachi Kishi revealed. But I'm doin' my very best! I just don't want him to become "too" open & I also don't want Kanna to become "too"...uhm, lovesickstupidninny? Yeah. xD

* * *

"_Something about you is different."_

Akatsuki's numbers had dwindled so very quickly but they dropped like pesky wasps rather than lowly flies by leaving painful wounds on their opponents before departure. First Sasori of the Red Sand, then the Zombie brothers, and to follow that up was Deidara. For such a feared organization these losses were rather shameful and a serious blow to their ever tightening schedule. Each member appeared to work towards the same goal, the goal of their leader but could one really believe that so many S-ranked missing-ninja only desired to see that sole objective through? To assume so would be foolish. Every one of them had their own goals in mind. If they couldn't muster up the loyalty to stay within their own villages, there was never any loyalty to devote to anyone or anything other than themselves.

Itachi joined the ranks of Akatsuki for his own reasons but they were hardly selfish. In fact they were absolutely selfless and yet he was the only one aware and that had been the plan all along.

A plan he kept to with the utmost discipline for years, allowing it to eat away at him and yet only until recently had he began to selfishly question everything. He felt guilty and ashamed for that.

From where he stood alone on a lush cliff, Kisame having gone off earlier to scout their path down from these treacherous mountains, Itachi felt the vastness of the world beginning to shrink. The neighboring mountains covered in wilds loomed closer, the jagged cliffs dripping with the gathered spray from the twin waterfalls running down the mountain's mossy hunch back, was scented like clean sweat. These lands he could no longer tread unchallenged. Destiny was closing in. For a moment or so he tried to say his goodbyes to the rare beauties Akatsuki allowed him to see without the binds of a village. Yet his mind strayed and his eyes turned downward from the clouds above that churned gray with gold lining in a slow moving, violet cream sea. Before his feet, so lightly tickling at his toes with the sway of the waterfalls' breath, a black speckled purple flower grew. He stepped back then and the flower sprung up on its crisp stem, its root compressed in the soil of Itachi's footprint. As he focused on its fragile petals, its delicate yet resilient composition, a gruff voice from behind caught the Uchiha uncommonly off guard.

"Something the matter?" despite that large size, Kisame nimbly emerged from the wilds.

Itachi's sharingan flickered up. "No, not at all," he lied.

"Ah I see," the shark-hybrid now roughly brushed the pine needles from his dark blue quaff. "Well then let me say that our path is clear and our informants were either misinformed or perhaps Leaf is moving at a sluggish pace _neh_?"

After what had been apparently a fairly long walk in search of the supposed Konoha forces out to capture Itachi, Kisame grumbled about a well deserved rest as he leant samehada against the oak he afterwards plopped himself down in front of. What would have been a particularly wonderful view of the waterfalls was obstructed by his young partner, who stood again with a questionable aura about him. They had been partners for years and shared an understanding and over those years Kisame has seen Itachi's height increase, his face mature, and his unbelievable skills become even that much more unbelievable. Yet only until recently has he noticed his partner looking worn and troubled.

"Is there more?" Itachi questioned the focus of Kisame's round, fishy eyes on him.

"Yes actually. Something has been on my mind lately," wearing that sharp Cheshire grin, Kisame idly patted samehada's bandaged skin. "We've had to tolerate each other for quite some time now and you've never been one to ask pointless questions or nose around my business. In turn I try to give you the same courtesy. However I cannot help but be a little curious now."

Slow and refined with every single movement, Itachi respectfully turned to engage his partner in conversation. "I've tried not to be a bother. But what exactly are you curious about?"

"Well, sometimes I forget how young you actually are Itachi-san. That wisdom and ruthless reputation makes it easy too, and yet not just a second ago did I realize I've in a sense watched you grow up. Quite amusing really, we've been a part of Akatsuki for so long."

What an odd subject of conversation, harmless though. "Are you being nostalgic or do you have a point?" Itachi slightly inclined his graceful head in question.

"Ah I'm getting to it," Kisame then shifted to get a dirty root out of his back. "Now I don't mean to overstep any boundaries or insult you in any way, it's just I can't help but notice something is different about you and I believe I know what is responsible. Or rather, who is responsible," He paused to evaluate Itachi's expression carefully, testing the waters really. "Sadly women ruin the very best of us and she has ruined you by the simple fact that…well, I'm just guessing, but I believe you take her wellbeing into consideration before every action you take. Back in Midori manor was the beginning I speculate. All the extra chances you gave her. We should have killed Haru Kanna a long time ago and found someone else, but fortunately you were in her corner from the beginning."

Itachi stood with the waterfalls as a backdrop, clouds of mist shrouding cliffs beyond. He was a solemn, deep shadow filled with personal doubts. "That is a rather large assumption to make," he informed in that eerie monotone.

"Perhaps," admitted Kisame. "I never really understood yours and Deidara's attraction to her. Ah well, she's never been my type: too small and too loud. Though I must say her body isn't quite so bad anymore. Slimmed down about twenty pounds and fortunately that buxom bosom remained."

Vulgar, shallow comments about Kanna were hard to standby and listen to but Itachi chose to say nothing. All focus went on reinforcing the impassiveness of his face, making Kisame's words appear ineffective as always.

"Hmm," the shark of a man hummed in consideration up towards the sky now. "As for my point, I wonder… will you just stand back while your little brother and Kanna clash?"

The very moment Pain assigned Kanna and Toshio to find and eliminate Sasuke, Itachi felt this incredible, indescribable ache in the depths of his being. Two entirely separate worlds, entirely his and never meant to meet were now on a deadly collision course. There had not been a moment since then that his mind was not at work, desperate for a solution and also berating himself for ever straying from his dark, lonely path. Now apparently Itachi's troubles were beginning to surface despite all the effort to withhold and as Kisame continued to stare up at the sky, the Uchiha turned in one swift fluid motion and began to walk off.

"And where are you off to now?" Kisame's raised his blue Neanderthal brow in more curiosity.

Rather than forcefully part the surroundings, Itachi sought out the leafy path back down the mountains his partner had neglected. But before disappearing behind the unruly bramble, he removed the sugegasa from within his cloak and placed it atop his head. The wide brim shaded those handsome features well and yet with the slightest tilt one could see the ominous glimmer of sharingan peering from behind long paper strips.

"Do you really need to ask?" said Itachi, just before going out of sight entirely.

Chuckling, Kisame again turned a cheek to his partner off on another extracurricular activity. "Heh, I never would have believed that kid would end up in such a situation. I almost thought he was more of a monster than I. How very disappointing," he thought out loud, tucking his large hands behind his head and reclining back against the tree. Why even bother to see if the coast was clear, when Itachi had plans to just wander off alone anyway?

* * *

Toshio and Kanna, who had been recently deployed from one of seven Akatsuki bases, had been so in order to find Uchiha Sasuke along with his cell and wipe the earth of them. Minor interference such as Konoha forces had been foreseen but what was most unexpected had been stumbling upon a comrade who they had believed to be dead and scattered in the wind. The young duo and youngest of the Akatsuki watched in pure disbelief as Deidara's left arm sticking up from the ground, battered and bleeding from the mouth, weakly groped towards the sky. To confirm the clay master's stubborn hold onto this world was a raspy breathing rattling the jagged rocks.

"I-I don't believe it," Kanna stuttered, wide-eyed and beginning to approach the lone limb.

"That idiot just doesn't know when to die," bitterly scowled Toshio from behind. "He's in the same league as cockroaches when it comes to undesired survival."

Once the initial shock wore off and realizing Toshio wasn't about to help, Kanna began her efforts to dig Deidara out from his tomb. The rocks fell away easy enough but soon a thick plate of earth separated them. In the beginning they had only been able to see his arm elbow up, now however they could see his bicep and shoulder. Kanna reached down and gripped the lone arm's fairly thick wrist and tugged. The instant her small hand made contact, Deidara's trembling callused fingers firmly wrapped themselves around her wrist and with one more good tug the earth crumbled and he emerged.

Like a fish pulled out of water and thrown helpless onto a sun baked dock, Deidara flopped onto his back wide-mouthed and gasping. He was an absolute mess from head to toe. Covered in dirt and dark blood, it was tangled in his long blond hair, smudged across his body that was exposed waist up and caked on his trousers. This was the very first time Kanna had ever seen a fallen Akatsuki. Indeed the sight of Deidara in such a poor state was saddening but what was to follow brought on more pity than anything else.

"I did it – I killed him! That devil-eyed brat is dead!" Deidara laughed maniacally up at the sun now, wearing a frightening sweaty smile that stretched from ear-to-ear. "I won, though it took my finest masterpieces, he's good and dead!"

Sprawled on his back, body unable to move beyond an ecstatic quiver, he laughed on and on in what could possibly be complete madness. Two long days Deidara had been buried alive, reduced to clawing and digging his way up from what might have very well been the depths of hell. In the weak state the battle with Itachi's little brother had left him in, a few inches every hour gained had been all Deidara was capable of chakraless. When tears cleared the fine sands from those intense sapphire eyes, he noticed the pair of dark figures beside him. As they slowly came into focus the sight of Kanna drew his full attention and the former rock shinobi's features instantly rearranged into something saner.

"Heh after nothing but darkness I get to see your pretty face Kanna-san," he dryly coughed. "Di-did you come here to save me…hmm?"

The sincere hope in his voice had the kunoichi hesitate at first and wishing their being here was exactly that. "Deidara-san we were told you were dead, that you blew yourself up in a last ditch to kill Uchiha Sasuke..."

"Exactly," beside her Toshio now clapped the dust from his hands and swept the pale prints from his cloak. "So we did not come all the way out here to exhume what one would have thought to simply be your remains. In fact we're actually out here on our way to succeed at what you so epically failed at, fool."

"Toshio!" Kanna bit beneath her breath.

"What?" the former Cloud shinobi coldly shot back. "He was going to figure it out sooner or later. If anything I'm doing us a favor. How could anyone enjoy the boastings of a failure?" Toshio's lip curled as his empty eyes gave Deidara another disgusted one over.

At first confused, that quickly gave way to rage aimed at both Kanna and Toshio. "Liars, you're choking my chain!" Deidara barked. "Sasuke can't be alive – no one could have outrun that blast, not even that moron Tobi!" Angrily searching their faces for any marks of deception, all he could find was Toshio's smug grin and Kanna's clear pity. They were not lying and Deidara caught himself again feeling the crushing defeat at the power of sharingan.

"_He-he's alive…that kid is still alive. My art failed while that blasted ocular jutsu prevailed_?" He turned away from the both of them then, lost in thought and absolute shame. _"Those eyes…those damn eyes are stronger than even Itachi's."_

They had watched the color drain from Deidara's face and the hysterical, victorious madness vanish. Kanna soon after knelt beside him and took her water bottle in hand. Unscrewing the top, she offered the rim up to Deidara's cracked, flaking lips. "Toshio and I believe that Sasuke used a jikukan jutsu to avoid your explosion…and it is true, we hadn't expected to find you. But I'm glad we did and you're alive," her eyes closed as she kindly smiled down at him.

Furious with failure, even the kunoichi's smile could not sway him but he could not deny thirst. "Thank you," with a helpful hand cradling the back of his head, Deidara drank from the bottle.

"Toshio," Kanna then said while addressing Deidara's severe dehydration, "he's got some deep wounds that need cleaning and definitely a couple of broken ribs. Heal what you can because we're too far to take him back to Soraku."

Turned away from the scene, Toshio whipped around so she could clearly see the disdain on his face. "Excuse me? I owe that self-proclaimed artist nothing."

Deidara shot a malicious glare at the former Cloud Shinobi. "Self-proclaimed? Shut your despicable mouth, kiss ass!" Having shouted, water wasted dribbling down his chin and when he made to sit up, it proved too painful. Deidara flopped once again onto his back. "Damn it all."

"That's irrelevant in our Leader's eyes," Kanna's expression became stern as stone, "do you think he would forgive you for neglecting the wounds of a valuable comrade?"

The mention of their leader proved to be the bane to Toshio's stubbornness. Grudgingly walking over to the both of them and then kneeling beside Deidara, he surrendered his hands enveloped in that healing green chakra. But as he was about to tend to the deepest wounds first, the clay master's hand outstretched to snatch Toshio by the fingers.

"Unhand me," he warned. "Or I'll let you succumb to infection." That he would definitely want a front row seat for.

"My ring," growled the Akatsuki who came before him. "Give it back or give me the pleasure of cutting off your unworthy finger, hmm."

_Ao _glimmered on Toshio's right index, mocking its former bearer. With a dangerously deepening scowl, Deidara squeezed his fingers and despite how seriously depleted the clay master's chakra and physical strength without food or water was, he managed to cause Toshio such discomfort that he yanked his hand back, shaking it so the blood returned to the purpling tips.

"Accept failure gracefully, Deidara-san," Toshio's grin quivered in contempt, "you lost. So this ring is now rightfully mine. I also believe that without a ring, you are no longer an Akatsuki. Tough luck."

Teeth grit, Deidara smacked Toshio's hands entirely away. "Call Zetsu, I don't desire to ever owe you anything, hmm."

They formed points of a triangle beneath the sun, their toes and hands baking with the only shade miles out. However Deidara was splayed across the ground thoroughly exposed so Kanna stood in the way of the sun, enough to shade his face. "And where are we supposed to find Zetsu? He could be anywhere. We left him outside the South West base a day ago and you need attention this instant."

"You two really are green," he could almost laugh if it wouldn't hurt so damn much, "cause if you weren't, you would know that Zetsu is never far and always watching." Not so much to help, rather to dispose of those who like Deidara had miserably failed. Thankfully he wasn't paralyzed or dead. Being Zetsu's snack-pack was not exactly the most appealing end in the world.

To hear Zetsu was never far and always watching was creepy to say the least. Kanna and Toshio exchanged dark looks and shared chills. "Well…" the kunoichi's eyes wandered across the blown apart lands as if she might spot Zetsu lurking out on the perimeter. "I'm not going to look for him. It's too hot to search. Toshio –"

"Already on my way," back to them, he was walking off. Toshio was far to use to Kanna sticking him with the dirty work. "Aren't you even going to tell me to be careful or wish me a little luck?" He called back to her without feeling.

"Just hurry, but I shouldn't have to tell you that," Kanna was relieved Toshio now volunteered rather than had her insist till he gave in. Perhaps Deidara's presence was what made him so willing to brave the hot weather that was fitter for summer. She watched her partner shrink in the distance till the speck of him vanished in the turbulent heat waves. Just as her eyes glazed over and her mind began to wander to a subject that had been plaguing her nonstop since Shunran, Deidara cleared his throat.

"So how do you like it?" he asked, unable to wipe the sweat dripping across his forehead since his arms were entirely unresponsive now, "being an Akatsuki and all, yeah."

For a brief moment the sun's rays blinded him. Kanna had gone to retrieve something from off where she and Toshio were originally taking a rest. When she returned, in her hand was another wrapped plum riceball. "That's a weird question," she replied while stripping the riceball of its wrapper. "I didn't really have much of another choice."

"Of course you did. You could have traveled the world, only lending your jutsu for cash," insisted Deidara. He licked his dry lips hungrily once the grass kunoichi leant over to offer him food.

"Oh, is that what you would have done if you were in my position?" she held against the pull of his bite.

"Certainly. In fact I had before Akatsuki came to bother me," he eagerly chewed. "So what was your motive? We all have a motive for joining; apparently mine was on a whim, hmm."

Deidara might have inhaled the riceball rather than ate, it was gone so quickly she was up getting another and another till Kanna got smart and brought over whatever food Toshio left out of the traveling scroll. She didn't answer his question right away because she was finding it difficult to figure out her motive. Kanna might have felt as if she had no other place to go but she also joined to chase something, or chase someone really. Maybe her motive had simply been loneliness?

"I just couldn't think of anything better to do with my life," she shrugged nonchalantly. "That's it."

"Ah," replied Deidara, sounding disappointed.

Having eaten all that was leftover, he laid back a little more at ease thankful to at least be alive, even with his failure. Kanna sat beside him, the sun having dropped down from its high point. "So are you going to tell me how the hell you survived your suicide, Deidara?"

Steely stare roaming the clouds, what might have been formless puffs were various creatures to him. One distinctly stood out as a mushroom cloud of some past glorious celestial explosion. Suddenly the gashes on his arms made by windmill shuriken throbbed again with oncoming infection, well before Toshio cursed him, and his broken ribs ached with even the shallowest breath. These were all painful reminders of what he had done wrong in that battle. Perhaps he should have listened to Tobi and simply passed on it. Sure would have saved a lot of grief. Wrecked and frail, Deidara turned to look at Kanna who sat resting her arms over her knees.

"My trump card C4 Karura failed. When it failed I knew my chances of defeating Sasuke drastically slimmed, so I began to devise a way of escape. Really the only way I could rid myself of sharingan was to fane reckless madness before the brink of suicide. So I captured him within another C4 clone just as he thought he had fooled me with Genjutsu. Heh, he's like his brother in that way, undermining my art with pesky illusions…" Deidara's words seemed to dwindle into angry mutters for a few moments.

As he did this, Kanna put her chin in her hand and put her imagination to the story. In her head she saw Deidara as he was now, bloodied and dirty, fighting tooth and nail against the boy in that picture. However she aged his body and face so much her image of him threatened to look more like Itachi. Sharingan's stare burned so brightly…she missed their fire.

Deidara continued, "After capturing him in the C4 clone, I made another out of highly dense C3. While Sasuke was trapped and unable to see, I let the C3 clone tumble in one direction while I dropped in another, as far as I could possibly get from the scene. To be honest I didn't think he'd survive a direct hit from my invisible C4 bombs, but he did. 'Doton is vulnerable to raiton' he told me. That brat figured out my weakness, yeah. However in his own weakness, Sasuke was unable to distinguish my C3 clone from my real self. I had it keep him busy. I needed time to dig deep into the earth and yet once I detonated the clone, I could feel the flames heating up the rocks around me. For a moment I thought I'd be cooked alive but that obviously wasn't the case, hmm."

"And you've been digging your way back towards the surface ever since?" Looking elsewhere, her tone was inflicted by the pity for his struggle.

"Yes and when you found me, you saved me from a shallow grave. I was well beyond my physical limit," he studied Kanna's profile closely.

Darkness came across the sky, bleeding shadow down on the earth as it slithered so slowly, leaving prints in the form of indigo clouds. The heat was well on its way to being blown north by a chilly breeze that tossed her hair and drew up the dirt. She shielded her eyes briefly, "they're coming." Zetsu and Toshio were on the horizon. "So you will be fixed up in no time. I really wasn't aware Zetsu had healing capabilities."

Deidara drew in a careful breath, wary of pain that was certain to come with too big a gulp. "Doesn't appear like the type, I know. Really he seems more like some botched plant experiment. Did you have anything to do with that, hmm?" As if a corner of his mouth were tethered to his ear, he smiled crooked and weak up at her. But rather than reward his joke with even the smallest laughter, Kanna stood up to give Zetsu some room. His shadow crept over Deidara who wheezed in greeting.

"Are you both positive he's not dead because nerves can kick for a few days," the Venus flytrap that clasped his mutant body spread its jaws so Zetsu could lean in for a better look. The clay master's stare was so focused on Kanna, who was again staring off, that he almost did look totally lifeless.

"Don't you dare get any ideas," Deidara at last piped up. "I'm alive, yeah."

"So it seems," cooed the white side of Zetsu's domino shaded face. "How unfortunate."

"Don't say such things," hissed the other voice, "he must still have a purpose."

The clay master cringed as Zetsu allowed him to lie in his pain further. "Gee, thanks. Nice to know you care. Now could I get some help? I'm tired of lying here, hmm."

When he turned his attention away for a second, it was long enough to lose track of Kanna who had apparently vanished into thin air. Toshio was standing about twenty feet away, so it was safe to say they hadn't moved out again in search of Uchiha Sasuke. "Hey, where the hell did Kanna go?" Deidara called to him.

"Wherever the hell girls go post-breakup," Toshio snidely replied. "Then again with a kunoichi, kicking ass is like comfort food, so maybe she went looking for Sasuke alone or maybe to terrorize an unsuspecting village." Of course both were very unlikely.

"Post-breakup?" Deidara raised an eyebrow. "What's that supposed to mean?"

Toshio removed his sugegasa before loafing back on a rock. "Wow, you're incredibly dense. No wonder Sasuke got away."

* * *

Kanna had not vanished as much as she had simply wandered off. To have found Deidara alive rather than stumble across little lifeless pieces of him was indeed great. But right now she didn't desire his, Toshio's, or Zetsu's company. Kanna was in dire need of a private spot to lower her mission-fixed identity and think without interruption. Again she thought back to how wonderful it would be to talk to someone about what was troubling her, but who other than a woman would understand? The only other female in Akatsuki was Konan, who Kanna had briefly met in Amegakure. That woman looked as uninterested in her as one might be with a passing stray animal, so put little effort into her introduction and they never spoke again.

The twittering of unseen birds had silenced though the trees pressed in closer. Grasses and ferns grew tall, easily reaching her waist beneath the gaps in the thick canopy. Arms outstretched, her fingers skimmed over the tops hardly stirring a leaf as her feet hardly made a sound. Kanna maneuvered alone around fallen trees, rotting from the inside out and blanketed in thick green moss with speckled mushroom. The yolky orange light of twilight had faded to a celestial, milky white that warded off deep darkness filled with timid prey and quiet predators that by instinct knew her sort of human were too big of game. That cold breeze found a way through the twisted branches and brought with it the pungent smell of organic decay she soon followed out to an open pond. Kanna sat herself down in the grass and looked out across the still surface of the water where fireflies bobbed and drunkenly swayed in their own glow.

_"…this is for your own good. There are things in motion you do not understand…things that when they come to pass will only hurt you. Kanna, I'll only end up hurting you."_

Somehow Itachi's words sounded noble yet she couldn't help but be incredibly angry. What things were in motion? Did they have to do with Sasuke and if they happened to, why would Itachi worry about hurting her? Kanna had pieces to a puzzle and yet hadn't enough in the same color to start a corner. It was entirely unfair how he left her with so little an explanation of why he couldn't be with her – then again she didn't really let him talk. Suddenly another cold gust came up and rather than shrink away, she turned to face it but could hardly pinpoint where it was coming from when she became aware of a presence, like that of a ghostly hand above her head. Kanna turned to see no one behind her but there was a man off standing in the woods, and the consistent wind brought a faint ringing.

"_Little bells,"_ like those that hung from Akatsuki sugegasa.

"We met on a night very unlike this. Perhaps that had been a sign about the storms ahead," a familiar voice, no longer vacant of emotion to her ears but so finely controlled issued from the featureless shadow. "Did I scare you, Kanna?"

Before he even spoke, she knew who was lurking. "Scare me?" Kanna repeated softly, getting to her feet. "Do you mean then or now?"

Uchiha Itachi emerged from the woods but rather than make his way to her side, he kept his distance. Taking the sugegasa off and plucking apart the buttons of his cloak, he revealed a cold expression prompted by even colder eyes. "Both," he answered.

"Back then at the shrine you scared me half to death. Now however…no. I think the only time you scare me is when you leave," Kanna stepped forward but Itachi stepped back and shot her a reprimanding glare.

"Sorry but this is no social call," he callously informed.

That might as well have been a slap across the face, making Kanna shrink away from Itachi as if they were strangers all over again. "Of course," the kunoichi sadly muttered. So a day really hadn't blown off what happened between them. It really felt unlikely in the beginning but she had a small hope.

As if there were tiny flame-lit lamps behind his eyes, sharingan had a glow brighter than that of the fireflies or the moon itself. Their red amidst darkness made it nearly impossible to look elsewhere but Kanna fought to. She focused on the reeds in the pond that stirred as a clumsy toad made its way out of the shallows. "Then why are you here?" she somehow mustered up the voice to ask.

"Zetsu reported back that you are the one to deal with my little brother," Itachi delivered that line as if Sasuke were just another opponent.

"I didn't volunteer, if you're wondering," she honestly replied.

"No. Janken apparently decided for you. How childish can you be that betting your life on a game five-year-olds play, sounded like a smart idea?" the lines beneath his eyes deepened.

"Well I -"

"Stop it. I don't have time for this tonight or any other night for that matter," Itachi watched her mouth move but no sound came out. "I'm here to warn if not dissuade you from combating Sasuke. You cannot kill him and I believe you won't be as lucky as Deidara to escape with your life. Kanna I don't doubt your clan's kekkei genkai against any other opponent. But against these eyes, your abilities fail in comparison. If my little brother can see half of what I do, your bloodline's weakness will be as plain and visible as the nose on your face."

Where Kanna should have been fearful for her life, she was wondering something new. Was he trying to protect her or his brother? "Itachi I know I can't kill your brother – I haven't the desire to."

"I know you don't have the desire," his scowl lessened some. "I believe you think somehow sparing my little brother will be a way of paying me back for sparing the life of your own brother. But Sasuke's life is not the one in danger right now."

A tremulous breath taken, the thought of sharingan turned on her in a malicious way was indeed frightening – it had been frightening with Itachi, who had no real immediate intention to kill her when they met. So Sasuke…what chance did she really have? Not much. "Doushite?" she bitterly muttered beneath her breath. "Why do you care about my life when you don't even want to be with me? When you come here and show concern, you're just making it harder to understand what's going through that head of yours. To top it all off, you stand away from me like I'm a leper!"

Uchiha Itachi watched Kanna turn her cheek to him, her eyes drawing their focus to the pond again whose ripples stretched across its silvery expansion. She sounded angry, she indeed looked angry but he found that the only reason she turned away was to hide silent tears that gathered at the corner of her eyes then mercilessly streaked their way down her face. At Kanna's jaw line they clung till they grew heavier and heavier then tumbled to splotch the front of her cloak. Her sadness and his guilt created a strong gravitational pull that brought him out of the shadows further. "Promise me that you will abandon this mission. Tell Toshio you can't go further – tell him anything," he sternly pleaded. "Kanna, promise me?"

She pretended to gently scratch her cheek when really she meant to discreetly brush the tears off. "Promise you – what about what you promised me?" she shot back.

"I'm trying to protect you," Itachi reasoned, "stop being so stubborn."

"I'm not being stubborn!" she turned around. "I'm angry and rightfully so. Maybe I'm no expert about this sort of thing, but I know it's not right. You can't just come into someone's life, leave the impression you have and then just blow away in the breeze. That's…that's cruel!"

From between his cloak's broad unbuttoned collar, tension showed around Itachi's shapely mouth making its natural pout firmly purse. "Whatever led you to believe I was ever capable of anything more? My infamous reputation for cruelty is no hype and does not discriminate opponent from intimate affairs," he so calmly breathed. "I shouldn't have to remind you that I am no hero."

"God, stop contradicting yourself! You're giving me a headache…"

"Or maybe it is all that hot air?" he wearily sighed in suggestion. "Typical of a fire sign, you remind me of someone in that way; how you angrily shout and come at me with your unruly emotion. For once calm down and listen. That's all I'm asking now."

Kanna stood rigid, fists balled at her sides. "Okay. But don't insult me by keeping your distance. I'm not going to strike you."

"Or shove me?"

"Or…shove you," her head hung between her shoulders, momentarily embarrassed by that recent memory.

Keeping his distance had nothing to do with her outbursts. Itachi simply did not trust himself being so near her. It would be too easy to worsen their situation. Ignoring the decision he made before allowing his presence to be known, the Uchiha closed the space between them. Close enough for her to make out the indents beneath his eyes but not far enough to keep her floral scent from entrancing his sense of smell. They stood before the other bathed in eves dropping moonlight. To see Itachi's face, to feel his powerful aura so close again made Kanna's heart ache.

"Now try not to interrupt me?" Sharingan's impressive gaze beckoned Kanna's eyes and as soon as he had them, he purposely glamoured the kunoichi into a receptive state.

Sharingan's tomoe seemingly began to spin and before Kanna could call foul at the familiar odd phenomena, her own pupils dilated and she was overcome by a warm sense of calm. No longer edgy, not able to feel anything other than what Itachi allowed, her head was set back on her dropped shoulders and her mouth lay ajar. "Unfortunately once I release you, I have no control over your decision," he softly spoke. "By how quickly I can glamour you, that should be proof enough that you're incapable of fighting a sharingan user."

"…," All Kanna was capable of right now was ogling up at Itachi and listening for once.

He fought back the smallest gestures, to caress her face, tuck her long bangs back behind her pierced ears and pretend he did not like it. "I'm sure you've heard this in your own village, that when alone faced with a sharingan user it is wiser to flee. Considering Toshio is your partner, I'm sure you will somehow work it out in your head that you won't be alone. But I'm also sure he will be preoccupied by Sasuke's cell. Kanna if you don't listen and engage Sasuke, then know this: sharingan has every blind spot that you or any person does. We may be able to read the fastest movements and anticipate them, but we cannot see behind us. Maybe we can see the colors of chakra and through genjutsu, but we cannot see through stone. Use that to your advantage and get away before he tries to interrogate you about my whereabouts. Give him information if you must though. I'd rather you do that than force him to force it out of you. Just don't tell him about us."

Even though her mind was captured, Kanna was able to still formulate her own thoughts. She could hardly believe that Uchiha Itachi was divulging information about his clan's kekkei genkai. Then he warned her not to let Sasuke know about them. There was a "them" after all? The kunoichi's heart could have jumped right out of her chest that moment and happily skipped around them. What elation! If only Itachi could feel that very elation too. The reason behind him advising she not let on to Sasuke what was between them, was so Sasuke couldn't use Kanna against Itachi. If he were to capture her to draw him out, she would be hurt and he planned to go to Sasuke in his own time.

As quickly as Itachi put Kanna under his spell, she was released. That warm sense of calm from sharingan's enchantment was quick to melt away and yet he still had to wipe away a little drool from the corner of her mouth with his thumb.

"Itachi," Kanna felt her lips move slow. "Tell me about these things that are in motion that I can't understand. Maybe I can help? I want to know why you're pushing away."

Jaw stiffening, he realized she had grabbed his right hand and was holding it. He fought within whether to allow her to do as she wished, ultimately hurting him, or pull away and end up hurting her. "No, Kanna, you canmot help. If anything you're making things worse. Our inappropriate relationship has ran its course and I apologize if it feels as if I only used you," he decided to pull his hand back but she held on.

"No, I know you don't mean that. You're pushing away and I deserve to know why. I won't interrupt. I'll listen real well this time, just tell me!"

"We've been over this once before and I hate to repeat myself. Haru Kanna the cold truth is you don't know who I am and right now in your desperation to keep me where I so clearly do not wish to be, you look ridiculous. Now let me go," Without even the flicker of an eyelash, Itachi delved a painful blow. Kanna instantly released his hand and stepped back horrified.

"Desperate," she repeated the accusation slow, as slow as one would remove a blade from one's chest. Was she indeed coming off as desperate?

"Yes," if hurting Kanna was the only way to keep her safe then Itachi would do it. This wouldn't be the first time he's gone down this road. "As for what's in motion, they've been in motion long before I ever took you and your little brother from Kusagakure." Brushing his bangs aside with a sinuous hand, Itachi avoided Kanna's wide-eyed stare. "Anyway, that's all I wanted to say. I came here to warn you. Don't go through with this mission or you won't survive."

He walked away now, the surrounding trees bringing him in with their outstretched shadowy branches. As he walked away from Kanna who stood there wounded, he glanced over his shoulder unaware how he was unable to mask honest concern. That very expression the kunoichi held onto until he disappeared yet again. Time felt as if it had stopped, but really it had only been her. The clouds continued to roll on by and by the time a lone ghost owl's screech brought her back, the lily pads on the pond had sailed off to the center.

* * *

No fire had been lit, no bedding set out to rest. When they left this place in the morning there would be no trace of the Akatsuki agents. Deidara had been properly healed by Zetsu who left hours earlier and throughout the entire time Toshio had been sharpening one weapon after the other. First a double-bladed sword, second a kusarigama and when he pulled a naginata out of thin air, Deidara ceased count. He heard the kid was a former ANBU in his village and also a weapons master. Sure would explain the arsenal he traveled with. Kanna had yet to return but Toshio had not seemed concerned whatsoever. Was this something she commonly did, vanish without a word?

"Don't bother worrying," said Toshio as if he read Deidara's mind. "She always comes back. But if you insist, worry about what mood she'll return in."

He was busy rolling up a thick scroll, one with a silver tie that kept it from unraveling. There were three scroll pouches behind his back, all fastened to a belt around his waist. This was the most efficient way to travel with a collection of weapons that could easily outweigh him a hundred times over.

Perched atop a rock, Deidara fastened a new scope to his left eye, brushed his long blond bangs aside and began to scan the vast area his massive explosion had opened up. Zetsu had brought him the new scope, a new uniform, and cloak on a second trip after he had been healed. Now fully clothed he was only missing one thing and that was the ring on Toshio's unworthy finger. Unlike the former Cloud Shinobi, Deidara hadn't wanted to join Akatsuki so one would think the ring meant nothing. But no, it meant a lot. For it to go to someone whom he deemed as lesser than him, well it was a complete insult.

_Click….click…_

Zooming in he spotted deer moving through the tall grasses on the perimeter and bats wrangling moths mid-flight. As he was about to call it a night, before the deer even heard Kanna he saw her. The kunoichi emerged from the woods, face obscured by long black hair. Her pace was almost sluggish and by the time she made it back to their so-called camp he was yawning. Walking directly passed him to sit alone with her back to the both of them, as Deidara was about to speak Toshio instantly held up his index finger, not to flash the ring but to gesture that it was not a good idea to ask her questions. So a silence befell the Akatsuki camp.

Deidara felt uncomfortable to say the least. He thought being around those close to his age would mean the company wouldn't be so uptight and moody. Safe to say he was very wrong. Sasori would be better company than this – even Tobi with his incurable idiocy.

"_Huh_," after a heavy sigh the clay master shut his eyes and in closing, thought something was very different about the girl he first met back in Midori manor.

After Deidara fell asleep, Kanna was still awake and staring at the same patch of earth between her boots that she had been for the last two hours. Her head echoed with Itachi's voice and the image of the last look he gave her. Was she stupid and desperate? Only stupid desperate girls chase after men who are out of their league, or worse, after men who already rejected them. That's what he did, Itachi rejected her. But that look as he walked away said something else.

_"Or maybe I'm thinking too much into this?"_

Or maybe she needed to get it through her head that it was over, heed Itachi's warning and move on. Tomorrow they would catch up to Hebi and the mission could either be a success or a failure. Glancing over to Toshio, she was unable to make out if he was asleep or not. The young man was leant back against a rock, head lolled to one side. "Toshio," Kanna whispered very softly, almost hoping he wouldn't hear, "are you awake?"

The quick turn of his head in response amidst all the stillness of their night surroundings was a bit of a shock. "Someone had to stay awake," he grumbled, clearly unhappy she hadn't volunteered to relieve him in the first breath. "So, what is it?"

Kanna had all the intention in the world to make up some half-assed excuse about why she could not go through with this mission. But as soon as she was about to speak, something inside her desperately held fast to the words and they weren't able to escape. "Um…never mind, I'll watch now."

* * *

Morning came upon them soon after Toshio joined Deidara in what looked like peaceful sleep. Even if she tried to sleep, Kanna was sure it was far beyond her reach. Instead the kunoichi watched the sky's hourly slide show that went from black, to indigo, to a foggy dawn. Somewhere the sun was hiding but the moon was still present with the northern star. A crisp chill in the air, she breathed it in and packed up her things. Scrolls tucked away, cloak buttoned and sugegasa on, she then nudged Toshio awake with the tip of her boot.

"Hey let's get going," Kanna yawned and wiped the corners of her brown eyes.

Toshio was already packed so he stretched before standing at the ready. "What about him," he gestured to Deidara who was curled on his side much like a child, "are we just going to leave him laying there?"

She nodded her head. "It is best. Sasuke beat him pretty badly and if he were to come along, he may only complicate things."

"True," he agreed, shrugging. "Well I suppose our next move is to sniff out Konoha's trail. If they're traveling in the large squad you suspected, it shouldn't be too hard."

After one last look at Deidara who slept so soundly, totally oblivious to their departure, Kanna with Toshio turned to the trees. They had to be quiet, fast, and thorough. "Could I get another look at the file Zetsu gave you?" Kanna asked as they broke the perimeter.

"Here," Toshio handed it over and watched Kanna comb through the pages till bringing the red-haired kunoichi's page to the front. "That ugly broad was directly under Orochimaru. Have an interest in her I should know about?"

Kanna read very closely beneath Karin's photo before speaking her thoughts out loud. "She's a well adept sensor."

Toshio raised a thin, nearly non-existent brow. "Yeah, so?"

* * *

a/n: this is where I usually cry for reviews but if my chapters aren't worth writing out a review cuz they're just 'meh', well...that's okay too. Lol I'd like to thank my regular reviewers here. **lue mieli**, **Ashige**, **phantombullets240**, **Kaito142**, **KC**. You've been great help :D

(Check out lue mieli's own FF by the way - good stuff!)

College starts back up Sept 1st so updates will be a little slow...err, slower o_o

**P.S. **updated that poor scan of Kanna on my profile. Check it out, has updated stats & trivia. Lol (I'm often bored)


	26. Akatsuki vs Hebi

**a/n:** Okay so this chapter was supposed to be posted on Halloween. Sadly a midterm snuck up on me. But I do let my readers know about post dates via facebook. So if you wanna know when 27 is coming out or its status, add meh! Just check out my profile here & don't forget to vote on my poll if you haven't already :D

Also, I'd like to thank my readers & Ayla. Thanks Ay for always being a help!

* * *

"_The scent of flowers & steel is overpowered by the pungent odor of fresh splattered blood."_

A patch of forest goes for another hour perfectly still and silent until the flutter of dusty wings interrupted. From the clear blue sky a crow wearily swopped in to latch its scaly, scarred toes onto a thin branch that drooped beneath its slight weight. Sensing the unease of its perch, the crow wobbles further up the branch till a patch of leaves shades that dull black plumage from soaking in the sun. The crow is old with only one shiny, clever eye to spare while the other rests gray and useless in its perfectly round socket. There are feathers missing from his tail and wingspan and every other one he wears is infested by mites that make him scratch raw at odd intervals. Ten feet above ground the crow tilts its head to the side and with his one good eye searches the sky patiently. Without a single cloud or potentially dangerous silhouette anywhere to be seen, the crow's natural instinct to survive is satisfied so it hops down and begins to separate the tall blades of grass with a worn beak, in search of anything helpless and edible.

For a few minutes it seemed as if his efforts were for not and it would be wise to move onto somewhere possibly better. However one last leaf unturned revealed a grasshopper backing its way out of a burrow. The old crow's head twitches excitedly. Too feeble to fend off younger birds scavenging off of rotted kills, something as small as a grasshopper was very much appreciated. Noticing the bird's presence, the bug sprung on its hind legs only to be pursued. Following the grasshopper to the base of a tree he hadn't noticed before, the crow corners its prey unaware he too is being eyed. On the tree he hadn't noticed perched and surveyed a hawk he also hadn't noticed. Twice the size of the weary crow, it normally wouldn't size up another bird that could fight back but the crow's age proved to be beyond ripe for the picking. The hawk watched the crow hop and wobble, the scene reflecting in both its perfectly working eyes. Just as the old bird pinched the grasshopper, he heard a disturbance that made him turn.

The very last things the old crow saw before its departure from the world were open talons that seized his body and pierced to the bone. Death hit like a bullet, snapping the crow's neck in the process. Nerves shot off, shaking his lifeless limbs in a late struggle. Not a creature to waste a single moment, the hawk began to tear black feathers from the warm corpse. But before he could even taste flesh, a crashing was in the trees. Still to blend into the surroundings, the hawk turned to the canopy where shadows flew by unaware of his presence or the death.

Uzumaki Naruto stays close to Haruno Sakura's right side as they chase after Inzuka Kiba's nose that chases the scent of Uchiha Sasuke. For a few moments the entire squad consisting of two jounin, four chunin, one former member of the foundation, one hyper-active genin and a pack of dogs, thought they had lost their subject of pursuit when it was scattered to the wind. However thanks to one of Naruto's shadow clones, they were back on Sasuke's tail. Their friend gone astray was moving very quick with his brand new cell, apparently aware of pursuers. There was determination on every face but the dogs in the squadron had their noses to the wind's current.

"_Oi_, I'm picking up something," updated Pakkun who dashed loyally alongside Hatake Kakashi.

"Is Sasuke's scent scattering again?" called Naruto, worried but willing to send out a hundred more shadow clones if need be.

_Sniff…sniff…sniff…_

"No. I smell an odd combination. I've smelled it faintly for a while but I didn't think much of it till just now," the dog's tired eyes folded over in concentration. "It's like…flowers and steel. Not sure what sort of flowers, nothing I've ever encountered on any walks in Fire Country. As for steel, well the metallic scent I'm quite familiar with as you would know." The squad did not appear shaken up right away, instead they all looked a little puzzled and doubtful.

"We're in a forest, there are flowers everywhere and each one of us has at least the standard amount of shuriken and kunai," Sakura stared apologetically at Pakkun, not wanting to be deemed rude for having questioned his seasoned nose.

"True but this is different. The scents have been consistent with our movements, always at our flank miles out…at least until now. They've moved off and a lot quicker than any flower or kunai could on their own," Pakkun peered darkly up at Kakashi. "We were being tailed by two other shinobi."

Kakashi stared to Naruto who looked to Sakura. Those who remained of team seven understood when there were shinobi skulking in pairs, there was a good chance that they were Akatsuki. "We need to take a moment and discuss something," said Kakashi. "We'll stop here and do double-time once we've finished our discussion."

"What?" barked Naruto, "Kakashi-sensei, we can't just let Sasuke's trail go cold!"

"I know that. But if Akatsuki was following us we have to assume that we may encounter them further ahead, as far as we know they could be taking a vantage point right now or setting a trap. In a squad this big made to capture, we need to discuss a battle plan," the jounin's lone dark eye harbored kind understanding for his former student but he held a firm authority.

Naruto submitted, as did the rest of the squad. Their feet touched soil and they broke off into their first teams while Kakashi and Yamato privately conversed. Sakura found her way to Naruto and placed a gloved reassuring hand atop his shoulder. "We'll get him this time Naruto. I know it's hard to be patient when he's so close but we have to be careful. Kakashi-sensei would have pressed on if it were just you and I but…" she gestured with a nod towards Sai, Shino, Hinata, and Kiba atop Akamaru. "Our friends are here."

"Yeah, you're right," he agreed softly, watching the others.

A momentary silence fell between the remains of team seven. Sakura hated to see Naruto sulk, he put so much on his shoulders and yet she admired him for all that. "So, can I see what Kabuto gave you on the Akatsuki? Maybe we can figure out who was following us."

He gave a little nod before dislodging a thin leather bound book from his bag. Handing it over to Sakura, Naruto positioned himself so he could try to read over her shoulder. The young kunoichi's thin, callused fingers sifted through the pages to find no immediate order. The pages weren't numbered nor were the names alphabetized. "This is like a bingo book," she told him. "There aren't just pictures or names - there are birthdates, blood types, and detailed lists of what they're all wanted for."

"Look," Naruto reached around Sakura's arm to stall her from bypassing a single particular page. "It's him: Uchiha Itachi."

The photo did not look recent. Sasuke's older brother in it appeared around their current age. Sakura saw that the Uchiha brothers were very similar in facial features, more so than most other siblings she knew. "He's twenty-one now," she muttered. "Sasuke is going on sixteen…they're five years apart." Their situation made her sad. Even though Itachi had slaughtered his and Sasuke's clan, they were still brothers and only dragging on the death that plagued their blood. "They're so similar."

While Sakura's expression depicted sorrow, Naruto's brows pinched in the middle. Clearly all he felt for Itachi was contempt. How could a big brother hurt his little brother so much? Only pure evil was capable of that. "They're nothing alike," he strictly corrected. "Sasuke is in no way similar to him. That guy…he's…he's a monster!"

Kakashi and Yamato appeared to have drawn out a battle plan so signaled for the others to huddle close. Naruto left Sakura behind with Kabuto's book on the Akatsuki. She continued to flip through the pages, bypassing those members who she knew had been eliminated. Two pages had very limited information and even more limited photo evidence only showing dark silhouettes moving across some wall somewhere and written beneath them _Rei_ and _Haku_. Not much help. But Sakura continued to the very last pages, ones that hadn't been printed but were made up with polaroids, tape, and Kabuto's scratchy handwriting. The last page read of a shinobi from Cloud with an A blood type who had been a former guard of the current Raikage. He was a weapon master and wanted not only for defection but for the murder of a head clansman and that man's direct family. Saeki Toshio was surprisingly handsome but nothing more than another villain.

Second to the last page uncovered a girl not much older than the pink-haired kunoichi. This girl was written to be Saeki Toshio's partner. A grass kunoichi wanted for a whole slew of crimes a few years back but most recently for the murder of the last Tsuchikage. To see a female shinobi in Akatsuki ranks brought upon Sakura mixed feelings, somewhere along the lines of female pride while also catty speculation. One woman in a league of malevolent men, wanted for all sorts of crimes including the murder of one of the Great Five Kage; Haru Kanna must have been a wicked, heartless, and ill-mannered kunoichi.

"Flora release…what sort of jutsu is that?" she said to herself. A jutsu that harnessed flowers didn't sound the least bit formidable.

"Sakura," Yamato had a hand on his hip as he called out to her. "Something the matter? Come get debriefed."

"Oh," taking her nose out of the book, Sakura hurried over to the group and immediately offered forward her hands where pages lay spread. "Kakashi-sensei, this book Kabuto gave with information on the Akatsuki – I think I know who was trailing us."

Kakashi's hidden features were unable to show his interest. "Really?"

"Yes, see these last pages? Kabuto must have written them in very recently because Akatsuki must have just added these two to their ranks," she smoothed out the tape that kept the polaroids in place. "This kunoichi is from The Village Hidden in the Grass and her ability is something called Flora Release. Also her partner here is from The Village Hidden in the Clouds and is a weapon master. Wouldn't that explain Pakkun smelling flowers and steel following us then abruptly changing course?"

"Wow Sakura-chan, you tied that all together just now?" Naruto again was impressed by his teammate and her obvious growth. Then again she had always been the smart one. He shouldn't have ever expected anything less.

Their sensei contemplated for a few moments and peered closer to the book. "Flowers and steel…but why would Akatsuki follow us then suddenly change their course? That's what we're wondering now."

"Safe to say Naruto could have been the reason they were following," offered Yamato.

"No," Kakashi's head shook before tilting back on his shoulders so he could gaze up at the sky in further thought. "They weren't after Naruto. Akatsuki is not made up of amateur even if these two recent members are merely teenagers. No, these guys wouldn't attack a squad this big. Something tells me we weren't their objective at all." Everyone's attention honed in on Kakashi as his voice grew lower, as his words hinted to a possible answer.

"Then what were they after, Kakashi-sensei?" asked Naruto at the edge of his seat.

"Sasuke," he darkly answered. "They must know he's after Itachi and plan to intercept. They used us to track and lead them right to him."

* * *

Miles and miles away from where Konoha speculated, Uchiha Itachi sat alone unnoticed atop a tall, jagged rock formation. Hot sun beating down on his back, this point he specifically sought for it was the highest point in the vicinity and allowed him to see as far as his dulling eyes possibly could. However he had yet to turn to the spectacular view. This afternoon Itachi appeared particularly sullen. His usually elegant stare was tarnished by dark circles and heavy bags and the lines that once brought character to his handsome face had deepened to near wounds. Rather than the view, Itachi's troubled and weary stare solely focused on what was pinched between his fingers: a photo, a crinkled and very badly burnt photo that he hadn't the heart to part with even when it had drove him to rush back into a burning building.

The picture was a snapshot of much better times – innocent times. Yet now whenever he looked back on it, all Itachi could think about was the lies behind the smiles and the backdrop. Uchiha Fugaku was his father, a very stern man and an even sterner father. Itachi always wondered if things had gone the way things go with normal families, would he have turned out like his father? Would Itachi have had two sons, five years apart with a woman who was as fiercely loyal to him as his mother was to his father? Uchiha Mikoto had been a jounin rank kunoichi, one with a kind heart and an equally kind smile. As a housewife and a mother she was incredible and never once questioned her husband or raised a hand at the clan councils to speak against the betrayal to their village, even though the betrayal meant putting him and Sasuke through war's darkness. Why hadn't she thought like a mother then, worried about the effects all that violence would have on her children? These questions tainted even the fondest of memories.

Last but not least was Sasuke. So small in the photo, he barely made the shot. As his big brother, Itachi felt Sasuke deserved a lot more out of life, a lot more than the clan could have ever offered.

About to tuck the photo back into a pocket on the inside of his weathered Akatsuki cloak, Itachi's hand suddenly seized up on it, wading the photo as he was mercilessly heaved forward by a violent cough. Chest over knees the cough shook his entire body and its loudness echoed off the rocks. Desperately slapping a hand over his mouth to smother the sound and silence the foreboding echo, when it finally stopped he was left with watery eyes, a sore throat, and tremors that worked their way down his limbs. Itachi soon after removed his hand and slowly uncurled his fingers to reveal fresh splattered blood of the brightest red.

"There's not much time left…" he muttered to himself.

Without regret for his current state of health, Itachi carelessly wiped the blood onto his cloak and then at last turned to the view. Somewhere out there was his brother and his lover about to clash. He desperately hoped Kanna would take his advice and just run, drop the mission entirely to save her own skin, the very skin he could still feel himself pressing down and into. Her floral scent clung to his clothes. Itachi could smell her in every fold, every stitch, and every fiber. Infatuation did not have this sort of endurance. He thought if he could not touch Kanna, if both his arms were somehow severed, he would still be content just speaking to her and listening as she spoke fearlessly back. In all honesty Itachi felt their ridiculous squabbles sometimes were too real, as if they'd known each other much longer. Somewhere amongst all that was a window to what could have been if these things weren't in motion. If Itachi had not decided his death was vital to Sasuke's happiness, if he were not gravely ill…

Collecting some stones, he held them tightly till his hands ceased their trembling. No one knew of his current state, the fact he was on multiple medicines that could only individually treat his symptoms, and how their cumulative side effects had him feeling horrible in various other ways. Mangekyo's price was destroying him from the inside and he hid it from everyone, even Kanna. Someone like her wouldn't understand the slow deterioration of the body due to illness, after all her bloodline was the ultimate immunity.

He drew in the warm air, tasted it, and tasted blood. Itachi felt worn out, yet his mind was buzzing like a hornet's nest and every time he tried to rest his heavy lids, Sasuke and Kanna's faces were on the back of them.

Off in the distance there was an echo, a booming echo and the resonance of flared chakras.

"So, they found each other."

* * *

Konoha on Hebi's tail, there was no second to spare even if they were miles and miles ahead of their pursuers. Sasuke continued to lead his makeshift squad onward despite how Suigetsu heaved with thirst and Jugo with Karin fell behind. Those dark eyes were firmly set on the coming path and it was incredibly irritating when he sensed their sensor had stopped all together.

"Karin," dryly wheezed Suigetsu, "how come it is okay for you to stop whenever the hell you feel like but when I need a breather, you bray like a donkey in my ear?"

The kunoichi paid him no mind, not even bothering to punish him for his comparison of her to a jackass. Karin's full attention was directed back the way they had originally came so the others weren't able to witness the puzzled expression on her face. "Two chakras have broken away from the large Konoha unit and they're heading our way at an incredible rate. Sasuke, I don't think we'll be able to avoid them much longer."

Balanced on a few branches ahead of the others, the Uchiha's youthful expression hardened. "Broke away?" he repeated. For a moment he wondered if Naruto and Sakura were stupid enough to leave behind their squadron in order to intercept him by themselves with their foolish talk about bonds he severed long ago between them. Naruto was definitely capable of such an idiocy however Sakura was not, even if blinded by ridiculous infatuation that obviously and annoyingly transcended time.

"We'll just keep moving, but faster," he updated.

"What?" Suigetsu gawked. "We're already moving really fast. Let's just take a break, let them find us, cut them down and move at a more reasonable pace. That's so much easier."

"Quiet! I'm trying to concentrate!" barked Karin.

Hands together and fingers folded into the seal of the ram, she attempted to focus more closely on the two chakras. As one of her special abilities, chakra didn't just come in elements and colors to her. No they had a smell, a taste, and sent various sensations throughout her body. "One chakra is cold and unwavering much like steel. The other is…the other is," she paused as her brow furrowed, "is strangely familiar?"

"Like the shadow clone Sasuke destroyed?" inquired Jugo.

She shook her head stiffly, "no." The more Karin brought it into focus, the more she wished she hadn't. This chakra was far too familiar. Her heart began to race and chills puckered across her entire body, making the very hairs on the back of her neck stand. "It can't be…there's no way," she fearfully whispered to herself. "They're dead."

From where he stood Sasuke could see Karin twitching or was she shaking?

"What is it?" he impatiently pressed. "We don't have all day."

"I-I don't like how this second chakra feels…"

Though Karin was robbing them of valuable time, Sasuke put it to good use. He stood quiet and pensive now. Two chakras had broken away from the large squad following them, so if he were to say that they weren't Naruto and Sakura, the next guess would be Akatsuki. That he preferred since the one Akatsuki member called Deidara, hadn't given him any valuable information at all on Itachi's whereabouts. Perhaps these two would be a little more willing to accept defeat then divulge what they knew before offing themselves.

"Karin, were these chakras following Konoha closely this entire time?" he inquired calmly.

"N-no," she managed to utter despite being shaken up. "They had been keeping their distance. I don't think Konoha was aware."

The young Uchiha had gone from looking frustrated by their delay to oddly pleased. "Let them come then. I have no doubt that we'll face Akatsuki again before Konoha."

"Oh," Suigetsu chuckled as he took a long drink from his water bottle. "We're so very popular now thanks to you Sasuke. Maybe we don't have to look for your brother after all and I samehada. Perhaps they're on their way right now."

Across from him, the red-headed kunoichi shook her head. "No. I recognize one of the chakras. Also since Akatsuki doesn't mix and match their partners unless one dies, it's safe to assume this is an entirely different duo."

Suigetsu grimaced with a heavy sigh before following after Sasuke and Jugo, who touched down on the ground. "Thanks, Debbie Downer."

Hebi collected at the base of a tall red pine to go over a battle plan. The Uchiha as leader and reason behind this team gave them specific instructions knowing full well that it might just be useless. Suigetsu was nodding his head too much to really be listening, Jugo's eyes were on the surroundings, and Karin kept looking over her shoulder like a paranoid alley cat.

"They're coming at us head on and quickly, not at all bothering to mask their chakra anymore. That means they're aware we have a sensory type in our group, it also means they know we know they're coming," for someone who just faced an Akatsuki who nearly took his life, Sasuke was eerily put together. "We need to at least keep one of them alive long enough to interrogate them. So don't be so hasty to eliminate."

All three nodded their heads in agreement to Sasuke's terms but he had suspicion that at least one of them was going to go back on their word. Hebi turned to the woods behind them expectantly, yet there was no one or nothing to be seen beneath the hot sun.

"So, what did you mean by one of the chakras felt familiar?" Jugo turned to Karin who crept closer to Sasuke's left side, this time not out of her perverse infatuation.

"Yeah, what clearly has you so rattled up?" chimed in the former mist shinobi with his toothy grin.

"I'm not rattled up you idiot!" she immediately blurted out in defense. "Bad memories…that's all."

Before a full explanation could make it passed her lips, the two mysterious chakras came rocketing straight at them. Their forms blurred, the intense speed roared up forest debris making Hebi shield their eyes. As quickly as they blew in, they and their storm vanished taking all sound, all movement. Everything became eerily still now. In broad daylight where there should have been nowhere to hide, these two beings positioned themselves thoroughly like wily predators. Time had frozen in place, no more breezes, no more shaking leaves or buzzing insects.

"They're here," said Sasuke, squinting in sunlight. "Show yourselves, none of us have time for games."

His words had not immediately drawn them out. Akatsuki appeared on their own time and did so, stepping out from behind two unassuming trees. Like those first two who confronted Sasuke, this pair also bore the same black cloaks with red clouds and conical hates. However rather than rush into combat, they stood side-by-side quietly for a few extra moments.

"Well, here he is," a soft male tone at last came from easily the tallest of the pair. "The likeness is definite. But I believe Itachi's presence is much more intimidating than this kid's. What do you think?"

A question presented to his partner, from between her sugegasa's broad brim and broad collar, a pair of heavily lashed brown eyes narrowed in careful consideration. "I would have to agree with you, Toshio. But you know how I don't like the embarrassment of underestimating an opponent. So don't assume by presence alone."

"Oh I'm not underestimating him. I'm simply saying he doesn't instill immediate fear in me, like Itachi-san does," Toshio kindly cleared up.

Sasuke took the forefront of Hebi by stepping out and focusing his dark gaze on their opponents. "Clearly you both know something about Itachi. Tell me where he is," he flatly demanded.

Toshio chuckled a little, mocking Sasuke's boldness. "Are you asking me? Cause if you are, you're asking the wrong person. My partner is more likely than I or anyone else in Akatsuki, including our divine leader, to know where Itachi roosts."

Naturally the young Uchiha fearlessly turned to the other Akatsuki member, his gaze unable to penetrate since she smartly kept the brim of her hat down. "Well, got anything to say?"

"He's not here," she answered simply. "We're your opponents at this moment, not him."

"Well said," her partner congratulated before gesturing to those of Sasuke's squad. "Now this has to be your merry crew of misfits: Hozuki Suigetsu, Jugo of the scales, and Karin. Each one of you we've been informed are Orochimaru's escaped lab rats."

"Lab rats?" Suigetsu snickered. "Hardly. But I'm flattered you know my name. But who the hell are you two, besides Akatsuki scum?"

Toshio frowned, "though vermin don't deserve acknowledgment by those greater than them, I'll give you my name."

One after the other he plucked buttons apart from his cloak and shrugged out of it entirely. Cloak discarded, his sugegasa soon followed suit until the Akatsuki's entire lean, young self was revealed. "I am Saeki Toshio. Our god asked us to exterminate all four of you and I am quite thorough when it comes to dispatching vermin."

Suigetsu's right arm leant back to latch a deadly hand onto his guillotine blade. "By the armor on your left shoulder and the strange twin-bladed sword on your side," his smirk curled further up over his cheeks, "I'm going to assume you know a thing or two about weapons. This should be interesting."

Sasuke's gaze had yet to lift from Toshio's relatively quiet partner. "Like I told that suicidal lunatic comrade of yours before he blew himself up, tell me Itachi's whereabouts and I'll let you go."

Kanna's desire to see the face of Itachi's little brother was great, but she wouldn't make the mistake of eye contact and even though she like her partner preferred to fight without the cloak, against sharingan it would be a definite benefit. "My name is Kanna, I may or may have not been assigned this mission by a god, but I cannot allow you to go any further."

Akatsuki and their stubbornness were an incredible annoyance. Sasuke did not understand how these lowly criminal could almost seem to protect a comrade. All he desired were a few honest answers and here they were making things unnecessarily difficult. Seeing that this wasn't going to go anywhere without violent motivation, he slowly rotated his neck clockwise and then counter clockwise, limbering up his body that thanks to Orochimaru, had fully healed.

"Fine, we have no reservations about forcing the information out of you," Kusanagi was unlatched from its sheath at his side. "As far as I'm concerned, you're mere obstacles in way of my vengeance and like obstacles I'll move you to the waste side in pieces if need be." Left hand undoing the bandages wrapped about his head, as they fell away, sharingan ignited a most fiery red and pointed at their next victims.

"Listen to that confidence," Toshio insisted in a bitter amusement, "I wonder if he'll be as confident if I were to spoon out those eyes. Then Uchiha Sasuke, you would be no better than I."

A mere twenty feet between Hebi and Akatsuki, Sasuke closed quicker than a blink of an eye. Dirt took to the air and both Akatsuki saw sharingan's fire narrow into dangerous slits just before kusanagi did a wide sweep to catch their throats. However they leapt back in the nick of time to tumble mid-air and perch atop sturdy branches where they simultaneously checked their necks for any blood.

"I made him angry," observed Toshio.

"Oh, you think?" sarcastically volleyed Kanna. "Anger is a powerful thing, maybe if you didn't shoot your mouth off so often our jobs wouldn't be so difficult!"

"Where's the fun in that?" he asked straightening up. "Well, let's get this over with. I haven't missed a beast sealing in person yet."

Hebi watched Akatsuki shoot off in opposite directions. It was obvious they desired to split them up and Sasuke's team wasn't about to disappoint. "You two go after the one with the big mouth. The woman might have more answers so she's mine," Sasuke watched Suigetsu and Jugo follow after Toshio, leaving Karin to tug at his cloak.

"Sasuke, what should I –?"

"Stay out of my way," he ordered, shrugging her off and pushing passed.

Leaving Karin behind, Sasuke chased after the first kunoichi he had ever seen in Akatsuki ranks. She was able to stay a few feet ahead of him, moving erratically through the trees to keep that distance. But she was forced to an immediate halt when the road of trees stopped before a quick moving river. Rather than stand there waiting, her momentum sprung her back in his direction. Sasuke saw the glint of a kunai and quickly unsheathed kusanagi to block. Their steel met head on and both sharpened edges ground together, flaking sparks that tumbled thirty feet to the ground. A kunai versus a katana was hardly a match, but the Akatsuki managed to deflect and wriggle her way around his offense skillfully. When Sasuke foresaw an opportunity in her form to disarm, she sprang back and tumbled to the ground, leaving him to slash air rather than flesh.

A hawk in hot pursuit, Sasuke pinpointed Kanna on the ground and swooped down with a spray of shuriken. Her own shuriken canceled them out and before she could even wind up an accurate punch, the wind behind Sasuke's own fist sent her sugegasa flying off of her head as she ducked out of harm's way.

"_He's really fast!" _she anxiously thought, making a grab for his sword arm.

Kanna made contact and Sasuke pulled, allowing her to pivot her back into him and tug at his arm. About to pull it clean out of the socket, he went with her force, flipping over the kunoichi's shoulder to send her flying instead. Twisting in mid-air as she tumbled, her hands and feet fastened to the ground to bring her body to a skidding halt. His overwhelming speed hardly gave Kanna the time to formulate a proper and effective counterattack before he was all over her again.

Right arm sore, Sasuke calmly rubbed it out then continued his relentless attack. The two shinobi became a blur together, a blur of kicks, punches, holds and breaks. Kusanagi's blade glimmered in the frenzy until suddenly an opening was seen. Kanna's right footed push kick sent Sasuke rocketing. Like a well thrown stone his body skipped out over the river's surface till he clattered onto the opposite shore. Unfortunately for the Akatsuki, Sasuke had skills beyond his years.

Kanna heard a ruckus in the trees from behind and as she veered around, two large windmill shuriken tore through the canopy, their blades reflected in her wide stare. They rapidly spun, sawing through the air, buffeting in her direction. In order to avoid both demon shuriken that overlapped the other, Kanna launched herself into the air. At first she had successfully dodged them but they split up into fours, two other solid windmill shuriken in the shadow of the other pair. They threw her off course and right into Sasuke, who seemingly appeared out of thin air. Caught mid-flight, Kanna was unable to avoid kusanagi that slashed clean through her.

Rather than spray Sasuke with blood, vines erupted from both halves of Kanna's veggie clone and bound him tightly. Or at least that's what it first appeared like. A billow of smoke revealed a log that tumbled into the river and was swept out of sight by the rushing rapids.

"Huf…huf…"

Kanna had left the battlefield for a vantage point, hidden behind a boulder that hid itself amongst the overgrown natural grasses. Sweat crept down from her hairline then dripped onto the Akatsuki cloak. Itachi's little brother speed was incredible for someone his age. To match his speed was more than exhausting and she didn't have sharingan to keep tabs on every little movement made.

Knelt down on one knee, Kanna carefully scanned the area. Sasuke was nowhere to be found. _"I can't keep up with him for long. Eventually I'll tire, so there has to be a way to lean things in my favor. There's already a field advantage but what good is that if I can't catch him? Also…those eyes, he was already tracking the pattern of my movements, I can only keep sharingan guessing for so long," _she thought.

Quietly the young woman stood back up and turned around, this time not to face the open forest but to be skewered by kusanagi at last.

"AH!" wide-eyed, blood leapt from out of her speechless mouth.

Sasuke ran Kanna all the way through, nailing her to the boulder she had been hiding from him behind. Lightning-based chakra angrily crackled all along the blade, heating the steel, channeling electricity into her body until numbness inevitably overcame. For a moment or two he watched the kunoichi, those critical red eyes trying to capture her gaze. Kanna refused to look up however, instead she focused on getting her arms to move that laid limp at her sides. Demanding movement from her hands, her fingers twitched and somehow both hands managed to grasp the blade.

Sasuke arched a brow discouraged by her pitiful attempt. "No amount of strength can break this katana infused with my chakra. Though I'm surprised you're able to move, even as little as you did. But now that I have your attention –"

This katana had to go, as long as he was channeling electricity into her, she'd be trapped here between the boulder and Sasuke. Kanna's expression involuntarily twitched as she boldly squeezed the blade. Both edges sliced into her palms and the Uchiha watched on, thinking he'd let her struggle herself to exhaustion. That however wasn't going to be the case.

A bitter, tasteless fume began to rise. Kanna's hands enveloped in green hued acidic chakra and Sasuke was surprised to see it eat through his chakra and unbreakable blade. Unable to leap a safe distance between them quick enough, the kunoichi swiped a deadly hand at his head. The fumes from her chakra got into his eyes, making sharingan burn wildly in their sockets, sending the Uchiha stumbling back. Sasuke rubbed them furiously and before the kunoichi could take advantage of his current bad situation, he enveloped his entire self in an electrical discharge. Chidori's current was his most effective defense and it indeed kept Kanna at bay. The attack went so far as to channel through the ground, so as she flipped back onto the safety of the boulder, her left hand was caught by it.

"Damn it!" Sasuke hissed, still furiously rubbing his eyes. Both cheeks streamed with tears as he could hardly see, everything had become so painfully blurry.

Kanna watched from a safe distance atop the boulder he originally had pinned her too. "Impressive, that for someone so young you think so far ahead. No doubt that you're Itachi-san's little brother. But I'm sure you hear that a lot," Kanna now shook her hand out and began to think how exactly to get around Sasuke's defense while he was still in this vulnerable state.

"Clever that you would try to blind these eyes not even three minutes into our battle," he said, slowly regaining his posture. "Unfortunately for you, my ability to recover is also impressive."

Though watery and pink, sharingan's glare was resilient. They glowed like brilliant flames, contrasted by his pale skin and dark hair.

"So you've attained some of Orochimaru's abilities from absorbing him after all. Well," her scowl deepened remembering Orochimaru's involvement with the former Tsuchikage. "His ability to heal fails in comparison to mine."

Kanna tore the other half of kusanagi from her stomach without a flinch and then discarded its melted remains to the ground. Kindly she gestured with a finger to the gaping wound he was responsible for. Without a hand sign or even a thought, it healed and there wasn't even any trauma left for a blemish. "As if it never happened, right?"

"Tch," Sasuke grit his teeth though appeared to observe dispassionately. "Instantaneous healing, even Orochimaru wasn't capable of that without consequences."

Her stare continued to struggle against the natural reflex to meet an opponent eye-to-eye. "Could I possibly ask you something?"

Chidori's current now dispersed, leaving a few pulses of electricity to squirm & crackle around Sasuke's feet. "The only words I want out of your mouth are Itachi's whereabouts," he flatly answered.

Kanna was disappointed to hear that again. "Very well."

He observed her just standing but it soon became clear they were moving on from just Taijutsu. The ground beneath Sasuke's feet began to violently quake, so he leapt back extending an arm in hopes to seize Kanna with serpents that slithered out from his sleeves.

Unfortunately his aim was thrown off having to avoid a thick, thorny vine that erupted from the earth. With kusanagi in two corroded and very useless pieces, he sliced through the vine vertically with a hand enveloped by lightning chakra. But from one vine burst two and from two burst three. Like a hydra each vine that pursued him and he cut down, more came in its place. Now the battlefield crawled with Kanna's ninjutsu. As if dodging them wasn't difficult enough, she joined the fray with her dangerous touch.

Sasuke maneuvered to the best of his ability, sharingan having found a pattern in the vines serpent-like movements, though at first it appeared to be too erratic to properly follow. Kanna had come in swiping at him but wasn't able to land a direct hit. Every so often she'd pull back for a breather, letting her ninjutsu attempt to exhaust him. From afar the kunoichi safely weaved signs, making the earth groan and rumble. Beneath Sasuke's feet the ground cracked and the soils began to cave in as something massive and menacing emerged. A spiked tendril as thick as an anchor's rope uncoiled allowing a white, monstrous sized blossom to bloom its jaws.

"A flower?" Sasuke skid to an unimpressed halt, caught in the beast's massive shadow. "Humph, is this the extent of your jutsu, miserable weeds?"

Tilting on its roots, the flower pin-pointed Sasuke as a threat by his chakra and made its intent clear. Amidst the spray of a bitter scented hiss, pronged tendrils shot out across the grounds. The Uchiha sped off, trying to lose the tendrils in the trees but it was now clear he was at a disadvantage, outnumbered and on the run from these miserable weeds.

Just about to drop to the ground, Sasuke was nabbed by the throat, the plant's whippy tongue strung like a noose as the young shinobi hung over a branch. He struggled, even produced Chidori's current but it was ineffective. Kanna's ninjutsu yanked Sasuke and drug him across the ground fighting. Once brought into the air, the plant's massive serrated-toothed petals spread and the Uchiha was swallowed whole.

Kanna blinked in shock. "Did I…get him so soon?"

Chidori blew a hole straight out of the plant and through that window a tangle of serpents erupted. Unable to retreat quickly enough, they lassoed Kanna, wrapping her tight around her own creature as Sasuke dropped from the sky. Hand seals a blur, the last seal Kanna made out had her struggling like an animal caught in a snare.

"Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique!"

A massive sphere of flames hurled from Sasuke's pursed lips towards Kanna and her ninjutsu. Both the kunoichi and her flower brilliantly ignited in a show of orange and red. The grand fireball overcame her entirely. Tall flames licked at the sky, from within Sasuke could make out the shadows still struggling in shrieks of agony. He hadn't truly intended to be so drastic but sometimes he could get carried away when it came to an obstacle in way of his vengeance.

Smelling and hearing the distinct destruction of flesh, he watched as thick, black smoke spewed into the atmosphere. What Sasuke hadn't meant to see was the kunoichi stumbling out. Kanna's feet drug as she broke through the smoke veil. Dryly coughing and holding her arms out to see the state of her body; charred from head to toe. Only left with one option to correct herself, she began to tear burnt flesh off in chunks.

"Ow…_ow_…" her burnt skin stretched as she pulled and lastly peeled the remains of her face off to reveal fresh flesh wrapped in unblemished skin. "OW!" Kanna huffed loud, struggling to keep composure now. "God, that stings so bad!"

Brows pinched in the middle, mouth a thin critical line, Uchiha Sasuke stood frustrated by this Akatsuki member's healing ability that even surpassed Orochimaru's. "What are you?" he demanded.

Kanna was trembling in her very own frustration. "What am I?" she panted. "What are you? I'm astonished that someone would be so hell bent on killing their own brother. What's that going to accomplish exactly - I'm confused. Are you so eager to know what it feels like to truly be the only one left of your clan?"

"I didn't come all the way out here to explain myself to the likes of you," confident and fearless he began to close the space between them. "Though your healing ability is impressive, you can obviously still feel pain. Pain is an effective way to extract information from anyone and I'm not playing your game."

In that moment still without even making eye contact, Kanna felt an eerie darkness about Itachi's little brother; something beyond chakra, something more than the entirety of an aura. Something about him just wasn't reasonable and as he continued to unhurriedly advance, she began to step back. However Kanna didn't go far, she soon came to a stop just as Sasuke found himself at an involuntary standstill.

"Wh-what is this?" he coldly demanded.

At first it started as numbness around his nose, lips, and inside his mouth. It quickly began to spread till his fingers and toes tingled. As soon as Sasuke sensed something was amiss, his entire body seized up and he clattered to his knees. There on his knees, alarmed by something uncalculated, all feeling was lost as he tumbled onto his side, inoperative and useless as a sack of vegetables.

Looking him over carefully from afar, she breathed a heavy sigh of relief because Sasuke was indeed unable to move as she had hoped.

"From the way you're glaring at me, I think you're wondering when and how. I'll start with when: the plant you so unkindly caught fire to, understandably felt threatened. Mammals, reptiles – all creatures have their own way of protecting themselves. Plants however aren't really gifted with free movement. They can't just get up and run away when they're afraid or hurt, so they compensate for their weakness…" from over her shoulder she paid a brief, sad glance to her wilted comrade.

"That brings me to how. That particular flower's defense is unique and obviously very effective. As soon as it comes out onto the battlefield and is engaged, it releases pollen that stuns all those who inhale it – except me of course, it has no effect. Thankfully that pollen has nothing to do with my own chakra or else I imagine you would have seen it in some sort of colorful cloud formation? Anyway, the pollen causes paralysis and usually the plant would then eat its original would-be attacker, but that's where I come in instead."

Sasuke couldn't feel his mouth or drool oozing from the corners of his twitching lips. "Pft, so what - are you going to eat me?"

Kanna frowned, "I hope that was meant to be a joke. But no, I'm not going to eat you. That's more Zetsu-san's style I hear. No I'm going to stop you from ever reaching Itachi."

At last their gaze met, only when she felt it was safe to. Sasuke's sharingan burned a far brighter red than his older brother's and though they were beautiful, she preferred Itachi's calm gaze to this angry set glaring at her right now.

"I had a family once – a clan," her right hand rose, enveloped again in acidic chakra. "Then one day someone who was supposed to love me took them all away. Revenge didn't bring a single one of my family back though, Sasuke. Revenge brings nothing good. All revenge brings is more pain and suffering onto others if not yourself."

Kanna's words trailed off as she now stood in front of Sasuke with her fingers curling tightly in and out of a fist for the moment of truth. However she quickly turned to deflect a spray of shuriken and kunai. "So you come out of hiding now?"

"Get away from him!" Karin snarled, thrusting a wound up fist towards the opposing kunoichi.

Easily swiping the fiery red-headed young woman's hand aside, Kanna wound up her own fist and popped Karin square on the nose. Her glasses flew off and she slapped both hands over her nose that now dribbled blood.

"I'd be ashamed if I were you," scolded Kanna, "hiding while your comrades fight. But from how you came at me, perhaps you were ordered to stay out of the way for good reason."

"Bitch, you broke it!" Karin cried, gingerly nursing her now crooked appendage.

"I'll break a whole lot more if you call me that again," she warned.

The level of threat back down to a minimal state, she turned around to look at Sasuke who still laid there unable to move. Eight vital spots but the quickest way would be to snap his neck or remove his heart. Yet she was hesitant, this felt wrong – very wrong. Maybe it was because Sasuke looked so like Itachi or maybe it was just because this was his little brother…whatever it was, she stood there unable to make a decision. If Kanna let him go, he'd continue to pursue Itachi and that fact alone should have been enough to stomp him out.

Everything had seemed okay, as if it she was on the verge of victory. But as she glared down towards the youngest Uchiha, there was a voice. It sounded far away but it was coming closer. When she finally heard it loud and clear, it was too late.

"KANNA! IT'S A GENJUTSU!" Toshio shouted.

"A-a genjutsu? B-but how? When?" she frightfully muttered.

The world around her was suddenly turned black and white as the image of Sasuke laying there at her feet broke in two like a sheet of glass and shattered instantaneously. From the broken remains he burst forth in curse seal form. His left hand conjured a dense amount of lightning-based chakra and he propelled himself at the kunoichi who was completely flabbergasted. With one slice of his hand, Sasuke removed Kanna's entire left arm, shoulder down and as it flew off in the opposite direction, exploded into bloody, unrecognizable pieces.

White hot pain surged throughout her entire body as nerves shot off with nowhere to go. Clutching the bleeding stump, Kanna tumbled back onto the ground.

Toshio watched in disappointment as his comrade fell. Arms were a shinobi's weak spot. Lop one off and their entire jutsu was thrown to the waste side. Unfortunately both of his hands were full trying to fight off Suigetsu while also defending himself from a raging Jugo. He couldn't get to Kanna even if he really wanted to. But seeing Sasuke's current state and what remained of Kanna's jutsu, well he fastened what looked like a black medical mask to the lower part of his face, just in case.

The guillotine blade swung through the forest, cutting trees clean in half, however Toshio's agility proved to be a real thorn in Suigetsu's side.

"Hold still would ya? I'm trying to make a clean cut!" he grinned.

"That poor sword, you swing it around as if it's a log," the Akatsuki member deflected the heavy blade. "But I'm impressed you can pick it up at all."

Suigetsu's sword arm abnormally swelled, despite this Toshio was holding his own. Again however, Jugo came barreling through the trees in attempts to tackle the considerably slighter shinobi. Toshio merely ducked out of the way and made a slash at the back of Jugo's neck, hoping to end it quick by severing his spinal cord. Suigetsu unfortunately saw that and intercepted Toshio's twin blade. They clashed yet again, their blades swiping and clanging together nonstop. Their strength was evenly matched but Toshio proved to be more skilled in form.

"All that fancy fighting must get tiring?"

"I don't know, you tell me? You're the one who is panting and always reaching for his water!" the Akatsuki's blade did a low swipe, cutting the thread that tied Suigetsu's water bottle to him. In a second swipe, he sliced the bottle in half and the water spilled across the thirsty ground.

The timing was unfortunate for Suigetsu, who heaved and was sullen with thirst chasing Toshio around the woods. Frantically he checked his other water bottles, forgetting about his opponent who needed to put space between them in the first place.

"Your friend is really getting on my nerves. I can't take his interruption so don't mind me if I dispose of him while you get a drink –"

Jugo was a mess of open wounds and blood from their three-way fight. It was utterly amazing that he was still able to rage on. Putting a fair distance between the very distracted Suigetsu and himself, Toshio stood out in the open to flush Jugo out for a one-on-one.

Naturally he took the bait right away.

Like a bull he barreled down on Toshio, who stood with his hands in a mysterious seal. Fingers laced yet spread out, they formed almost inward wings. "A rabid animal like you needs to be put out of its misery. So, allow me to put you down."

Altered by his bloodline, more beast than human, Jugo salivated as he reached out his arms to crush the Akatsuki member. However he was stalled by Toshio's jutsu, which appeared in multiple portals on the ground. The portals were a swirling red and a hint to the dimension they were tore into. Thick chains of another worldly metal shot forth and slung themselves around Jugo's ankles, wrists, and one about his throat. He was inches away from Toshio's face but unable to advance further.

Teeth bare, saliva dripping from his lips and veins throbbing, he was incredibly frustrated being held still and unable to rip the Akatsuki member limb from limb. Toshio grinned calmly in the crazed shinobi's face.

"_Sayonara,_" he said. "Binding Technique: Chains of Yomi…"

With no slack, the metal links began to wind back into the five portals on the ground that circled Jugo. As if demons were cranking the levers just below, they grew tighter and tighter until the huge man with a gentle heart but ferocious blood was suspended a foot above the ground roaring in his frustration.

"Struggle all you like, no one can sever those chains. They could bind a god and you are no god. Just a lab rat," Toshio coldly chuckled one last time.

Calculating a safe distance, he stepped back just in time of course to watch his ninjutsu tear one of Team Hebi's members apart. Simultaneously his arms and legs along with his head were ripped from his torso. Blood sprayed in all directions, but Toshio managed to not get a drop on him.

Amidst Suigetsu's struggle for the last drop of water in the last water bottle he had, he looked up to bear witness to Jugo's gruesome demise. He wasn't exactly sure how to feel. There was the initial shock and then there was a sense of regret. Honestly, Suigetsu would have liked to have gone one more time with Jugo to see who could best the other. Unfortunately that wasn't ever going to happen.

The Akatsuki member turned his sights back on the former Mist shinobi, ready to continue what they started. But Toshio's pale eyes directed away from Suigetsu's stare, down to his feet where an odd creature crawled its way over his toes and latched itself to his ankle.

Still on the ground slowly trying to inch herself away with only one arm, Sasuke's shadow loomed over Haru Kanna.

"By the way you're glaring at me, I bet you're wondering when and how," he clearly mocked her words from before. "I'll start with when: from the moment we began our battle, I noticed you were hiding your hand seals and going to great lengths to avoid eye contact. Basic instruction when combating these eyes, but the second is not so easy when in the middle of a fight and yet you managed, up until the moment where you thought you won. As soon as you made eye contact with me, I caught you. Genjutsu is not your strong suite, is it?"

He was right, though Kanna was proficient with both Taijutsu and her clan's Ninjutsu, Genjutsu was one of her weaknesses. "I never really had the talent or patience for it," she confessed as Itachi's warning echoed in her mind. He had told her sharingan would overcome her and he was in fact right.

But even though Sasuke was able to capture her in a genjutsu and sever an arm, he was still struggling with the effects of her ninjutsu.

"How are you able to still stand?" Kanna bitterly questioned. "You're supposed to be paralyzed!"

Suddenly the Uchiha staggered, answering her question in a way. "I can still feel the effects of your ninjutsu, the only reason I'm standing is because of the curse seal." Sasuke was standing just by power alone.

His time was limited though, this he knew. So he needed to extract information from the woman as soon as possible. Obviously the quickest and most effective method would be the painful persuasion he figured from earlier.

"When you made eye contact and then hesitated, those were your mistakes," he staggered closer.

Still Kanna clutched to her arm, no longer did it bleed but the pain was incredible to the point her teeth were grinding. Something odd happened then. An unassuming, small, ghostly white creature plopped down from the overhanging branches, putting itself between Kanna and Sasuke. Instantly the Uchiha recognized the arsenal of his past opponent.

"KATSU!"

The blast wave of a C2 bomb blew Sasuke back in debris, giving Kanna the opportunity to stand and dash. A shadow followed alongside the kunoichi and she glanced up just as another explosion went off in Toshio's direction. There beside her soared a clay bird with Deidara piloting. He swooped low to reach a helpful hand out to her. Of course Kanna would have gladly given him her left, if it hadn't been cut off and destroyed.

"What are you waiting for? Let's go!" Deidara shouted down to her over the blasts of multiple explosions.

"Wait, I need my ring!" along with something else.

Kanna found her ring buried in a little warm heap of what remained of her arm. Covered in blood, she stashed it in a pocket and then came to a skidding halt beside Karin, who had her hands cupped below her nose that still dripped blood. She gawked up at the other kunoichi and just as she was about to open her mouth to say something foul, Kanna punched her across the head, knocking her out cold.

Again the clay bird swooped low. "Why the hell did you do that, hmm?" Deidara asked, noticing Kanna only had one arm to which she used to drag Karin out of the trees. "And what happened to your arm?"

"I'll tell you later, just take her and we can go," she replied.

Deidara nodded his head as the clay bird he road in on, opened up its jowls and swallowed Karin down while Kanna hopped atop its back. They took to the air getting a look at the scene below. Apparently Deidara had planted multiple bombs throughout their battlefield and were going off at random times, making not only Sasuke and Suigetsu flee, but putting Toshio in danger.

"Thought you could leave me behind, hmm?" The clay master handsomely grinned over his shoulder at Kanna.

However she couldn't smile in return. "Deidara, now is not the time to get back at Sasuke –"

"I had no intentions of," he immediately corrected, a little irked she was accusing him of selfishness at this very heroic moment. "Well, not yet at least, hmm."

Another explosion spewed flames upward, to which the clay bird stealthily avoided. Kanna looked back down, searching the trees for her partner. "We need to get Toshio, he's still down there."

Deidara raised a thin brow, obviously having forgotten about Kanna's partner. "Ah, Toshio."

A few clicks of his scope and he was zooming in on their comrade atop a branch with a wounded leg, obviously a victim of friendly fire. The clay bird lowered altitude but will still out of range.

"Come closer, my leg is battered you idiot! I can't make that jump!" spat the former cloud shinobi. "Thanks to your damn clay bombs that aren't able to distinguish friend from foe!"

They still hovered out of range and it became obvious Deidara was going to make this difficult for Toshio. Kanna watched her partner grit his teeth to make the jump. He had managed to grab hold of the bird by its clay flesh, however Deidara stopped him right there.

"For your information my art is perfect," he told Toshio. "Maybe you just need a closer look, hmm?"

Cloak thrown open, Deidara thrust one of his mouthed hands into one of two bags fastened to his utility belt. His palm chewed for a few seconds before regurgitating a mound of saliva drenched clay, to which the former Rock shinobi crammed into Toshio's wide open mouth.

If Toshio were to let go to pull it out, he would have fallen. Instead he stared wide-eyed as Deidara removed Ao from his index finger.

"I believe this is mine," the clay master's mouth curled tight at the corners and once he had what he wanted, he jammed his sandaled foot in Toshio's face, kicking him loose.

Kanna watched her partner drop like a stone but before he could even hit the ground, Deidara formed his hand seal and Toshio exploded in a mess of flesh and fire. There wasn't anything she could really say, this sort of brutality was an everyday thing when in Akatsuki. All Kanna could do was hold tight to the clay bird with her outlook on Deidara a little shaken.

"HA! Brilliant, hmm!" he swept his blonde bangs aside to watch Sasuke and his remaining comrade shrink as he and Kanna rose to the clouds together.

* * *

**a/n: **Gawd, I forgot how difficult fight scenes are. I had high hopes for the Sasuke vs. Kanna fight but I don't think I was able to get it to where I really wanted it. Bleh!

Well this chapter was pretty long, the ones to follow will hopefully be just as long because I want chapter 30 to be the final chapter :D

Okay, so I'd like to hear what you guys think. Really & I mean _Really!_ Cause I'm approaching the end & I not only want to be satisfied but I want my readers to be. Is Itachi still Itachi? Is the OC still okay with you? Do you think Kanna should have off'd Sasuke? Do you think there is a happy ending or a sad ending on the horizon? Did the fight scene just blow chunks? That sorta stuff, haha.

In closing for this chapter – thank you for reading & please review :D

-Connie


	27. Tsukuyomi

"…_but you'll always be my hero, even though you've lost your mind."_

Two hours and twenty-miles out high above the noisy earth, in and amongst dark ghostly clouds, Deidara's hollow-eyed creation lazily drifted on a chilly evening current. As always, piloting, Deidara was crouched down between the clay bird's wings as Kanna was seated closest to the fanned tail, where she still clutched the stump of her arm whose gore was hidden by the shreds that remained of her cloak's left sleeve. Not a word had been spoken since they left behind Sasuke and what remained of his cell. With no words spoken, heaven's border was incredibly quiet. Deidara could hear his own materializing breath and the wind shouting passed his ears.

It was no surprise that Kanna wasn't saying much, even after he had killed her partner, thus making her missions in Akatsuki doubly hard. How could anyone blame her, after all she had lost an arm and Deidara knew exactly what that was like, considering he had at one point lost both his hands. As easy as it was to remove a limb, it was just as easy to lose the entirety of your jutsu in one fell swoop. A shinobi was nothing without their jutsu, no better than the civilians they protected or tormented. Now Deidara wondered what good she would be to their organization with only one arm. What a very short career.

"Hey," he tossed a concerned glance over his shoulder. "How are you doing back there, hmm?"

With her back to him, Kanna silently shuffled beneath her tattered cloak, just staring between her knees down to the earth with a most puzzled look in her eyes, as if she were attempting to calculate the rolling hill by the complicated river network in this part of the country.

Only slightly offended by her stayed silence, Deidara turned his scoped eye down to scan the hills and peaks. Thankfully Itachi's little brat of a brother hadn't pursued them or else they would have had to put more distance between them and the trail would have most certainly gone cold. The clay master was not in any way concerned about Sasuke going after Itachi for revenge of course, but rather felt obliged to repay the youngest Uchiha back for shaming him and his art. Besides, if anyone was going to kill Uchiha Itachi, it would be him. It was because of Itachi that Deidara was now bound to the Akatsuki.

"Well, we should get that arm of yours tended do before infection sets in, hmm. So hold on, I'm going to land this."

The clay bird's doughy body suddenly shivered, rearranging its wings to begin dropping altitude. They dropped at a steady pace, though either way being flown was nauseating for Kanna. Between sharpened peaks, over the tops of trees the clay bird soared, grazing branches as they passed. It then swooped down through an opening, taking them beneath a canopy and out of the open sky. Having designated a spot, Deidara's creation seemed to hover and in the process brought up forest debris with its massive wafting wings. When at last they touched down near a stream, another thin vein from the complicated river network in these parts, Deidara was the first off and meant to help the wounded kunoichi, but she had helped herself off instead. Still without a word, without even a thanks, really what Deidara was mainly waiting for, she crouched down alongside the lazy stream and then sat.

"Humph, well," not one to easily give up, he approached from behind. "Let me get a look at that now. I know a thing or two about losing a limb, hmm."

Kneeling on one knee beside Kanna, he leant out his mouthed-hands to unbutton her cloak. Without the mind or energy to shrug Deidara off, he succeeded in unbuttoning the front, and with care peeled back the left side. Evening air was no friend, its cold breath lapped at the exposed flesh, nerves, muscle, and bone, making her groan with failure.

Dark blood with the consistency of syrup, threaded the quivering stump to the cloak's shredded material. Kanna winced down towards the stream that slithered over the rocks at her feet, not about to dare even the most curious glance at what might have remained of the limb Sasuke severed.

"Now if Kakuzu were still around," Deidara tore the right sleeve off Kanna's cloak. "He could have easily reattached your arm." Personally he felt with her missing an arm now, she went down from a nine to about seven and a half.

"No," she darkly replied. "Sasuke completely destroyed my arm. It held no form," from the corner of her eye, she watched Deidara take the shred of cloth, douse it in the cold running stream, wring it out, and then proceed to clean her wound.

As soon as the wet cloth made contact, she hissed through her teeth in pain. "It's okay, I'm fine," she reassured, leaning away to avoid his rare kindness.

"Just hold still, will ya'?" Deidara persisted, tone inflected with a little annoyance towards her wiggling. He took another wipe at the dirt and blood around the stump of her arm. "You're going to get an infection if this isn't properly cleaned and bandaged, hm."

"Deidara, really I'm fine –" Kanna's nerves gave a sudden vicious kick. The pain was too much and her mood was uneasy, so in reflex she swatted her comrade's helpful hand away. "Just stop! I don't even get infections!"

"Alright, that's it –" Deidara took an abrupt stance, slapping the heavy wet cloth down onto the rocks in angry frustration. "What the fuck is your goddamn problem? I know we haven't spoken in a while, but I'm certain you've never been THIS unpleasant to be around! You haven't even bothered to thank me for saving your ass back there, hmm!"

Deidara's aggravation made for loud company. If anything with Toshio dead, a little silence would be appreciated. Not exactly to mourn her comrade, but to be able to properly think. Plus having lost an arm didn't make her mood any better in the least. She hadn't ever lost a limb before and was initially still in shock. Also there was one other thing…Sasuke got away.

"The situation was under control, I didn't really need your help," Kanna muttered off to the side, anguish and frustration hidden behind a veil of dark hair.

"Oh really?" volleyed Deidara, sounding very unconvinced. "If I can recall, which I can, you were on the floor crawling backwards."

"I was buying time!" she suddenly snapped.

"For what exactly, I wonder? Because I could have sworn I saw you hesitate to kill that little brat. Even though I would enjoy killing him myself for real this time around, you had an opportunity and yet you allowed it to slip through your fingers, hmm."

Teeth grit behind her lips, remaining fist clenched, she glared up towards Deidara. "Don't you dare question my art or my methods, because what happened was an unfortunate miscalculation."

There was a definite bitter air between them now as they both glared to one another. That was until something dawned on Deidara, a very unpleasant something. The muscles in his face relaxed at first as he put one thing together after another. When a conclusion was made, his brows pinched and his nose crinkled that nineteen-year-old face into an angry sneer.

"No," he breathed in accusation, "that wasn't just some unfortunate miscalculation on your part. You not only hesitated Kanna, but you actually went _easy_on that kid, didn't you?"

"_Tch_," her scowl became severe, a threat to venture no further. "I don't think anyone purposely loses an arm."

Despite what little came from her mouth, the kunoichi's face said more than enough. His visible eye turned to a thin, sharp sliver of sapphire in hateful suspicion. "Losing your arm was the only real miscalculation, because this ungrateful attitude of yours, the little hints Toshio had been dropping, hesitating to kill Sasuke, and then the girl you had me bring with us. It's all for _him,_isn't it? All for Itachi."

She felt the kick in her heart of being found out, but stumbled for a quick save.

"Our leader assigned us the mission to destroy Hebi," she calmly explained. "Thus keep them from pursuing and finding Itachi. It was a mission, that's all."

Deidara could have laughed if he wasn't disgusted. "Sorry but I'm having a hard time believing that's your only reason," he took a step closer and pointed an accusing finger. "If you were to ask me, I say it's a little pathetic that you're going to any lengths at all to protect Itachi. Especially when you consider how he obviously rejected you. Give it up, hmm."

The kindness Deidara had been showing her moments earlier had all too quickly vanished. Though Kanna had not admitted out loud what he more than suspected, it was all enough to make him livid. There was only one person he hated in this world and that person was Uchiha Itachi. The day Deidara lost to him was the very first day he had ever doubted his art and nearly acknowledged another's brilliance. From that moment on he vowed to never lose to Itachi again in any aspect. Only now did he realize that vow went so far as to include the affections of a woman. Deidara would not lose to someone whose art was mere cheap parlor tricks; whose unassuming demeanor infuriated him so.

Still sitting on the soft ground, Kanna yet again clutched her throbbing bloody stump, leaving Deidara to stand there in his building fury. At least he was quiet in the process.

She too believed her actions were pathetic and really pointless, in fact that was the very reason she hadn't shrieked in defense. Even though Itachi wanted nothing to do with her anymore, Kanna couldn't find it in herself to wrong him. Something said if she had succeeded by killing Sasuke, it would have been wrong.

Despite her new unreasonable hatred for someone she didn't even know…it would have been wrong?

The sun had fallen behind the mountain ranges again, leaving an empty dark blue canvas above their heads. Shadows crept forth from the surrounding trees, ferns, and peeked around the pointed rock formations that surrounded this particular mountain. Though the days were long, today had gone by fairly quick, even though no one was clearly having fun.

"He's a lunatic," Deidara suddenly said, voice infected with a tremor of anger. "He's infamous not only for those wicked eyes, but for murdering his entire clan, hmm."

Both of his feet sank into the stream's wet, muddy pebbles as the former rock shinobi crouched beside the former grass kunoichi. He was close enough for her to feel the warmth of his oddly fragrant breath against her ear.

"Uchiha Itachi slaughtered his family in the dead of night. In an organization of S-rank criminal shinobi, all of us wanted for evil, even you…none of us can touch him. Can anyone really blame that Sasuke kid for wanting revenge on the man who made him an orphan, hmm?"

Kanna attempted to shrug him off but Deidara clamped a hand down on her right shoulder to keep her off-balance and still as he went on, maliciously intent to remind her who Itachi exactly was.

"Need I repeat myself?" he hissed. "Uchiha Itachi _slaughtered_his clan. That means he not only killed his uncles, aunts, and cousins in cold blood, but he even dispatched the people who brought him into this world, hmm. What makes you think a man like him wouldn't do the same to someone like you, who is not blood related, or even from the same village?"

When he wasn't talking, the forest was so quiet. Kanna could hear her own heart beat rising as disinterested mosquitoes flitted away for cooler, safer meals. Her comrade's words brought no new concepts though. She was no idiot blindly infatuated so that Itachi's crimes and flaws counted for nothing. They counted for something and yet the humanity he showed her did as well.

"We're all murders, so we're in no place to judge each other," Kanna looked Deidara square in the eye. "And we have all done things we regret."

He searched her expression carefully, curious as to where this sort of nonsense was coming from. But all Deidara saw was someone under sharingan's spell.

"Humph," tilting his head so those heavy blond bangs cleared away, a smug grin revealed. "Would you be so quick to protect me too, Kanna? Or is this sort of compassion exclusive to that blood traitor, hmm?"

Before she could even lash out a word, her shout was muffled by the force of Deidara's cold, chapped lips up against her own.

"Mmmf!" Kanna shoved at his chest with her single arm, but he only held her tighter by the hair on the back of her head.

Mouth to mouth they struggled against one another for about a minute, teetering back and forth on the sand and pebbles until the near-suffocated kunoichi felt that indescribable agony of her arm become something much more excruciating.

It was worse than a growing pain times a thousand if not more. Fresh bones erupted from what remained of her severed limb, sprouting joints, knuckles, and fingernails. From there muscle covered bone, nerves over muscle, and flesh over nerve till skin completely wrapped and covered Kanna's new left arm. No longer at an obvious disadvantage, she shoved Deidara off and with a well-wound up hand, smacked him so hard across the face that he spun off into the lazy stream. Slipping on a few loose rocks, he tumbled onto his back and laid there, licking his lips as a very distinct red handprint burned on his right cheek.

Flustered and confused, Kanna stood furiously wiping her mouth hard against the back of her hand. What exactly had just happened? She had no idea how to respond to such a forced, unpleasant kiss. A man's mind she knew very, maybe even too little about still. With all the effort put into impressing and chasing one she believed way out of her league, when another willingly threw himself at her, well…it was sort of like a goofy fish jumping into her lap.

When Deidara finally sat up, he slapped his hands down onto the stream's uneasy surface and had himself a good laugh. "I gotta say that I missed those sexy slaps of yours. Personally I like a woman with some fire to her, keeps things exciting. But you're clearly delusional Kanna. If you think Itachi actually regrets wiping his family off the map," a cruel smirk twisted his mouth. "Then let Sasuke kill him - think of it as putting Itachi out of his misery, hmm!"

About to let his words in one ear and out the other as she made to walk away and nurse the awkward embarrassment of having been kissed by someone not of her desire, Kanna instead froze in place.

"S-say that again…"

"Huh? Why the hell should I?" Deidara blinked in a little surprise.

"Just say that again! I want to hear what you just told me!" she shouted impatiently.

Not sure if she was just setting him up to be walloped again, the clay master took a moment before repeating himself in a smaller voice. "I said, if you think Itachi actually regrets wiping his family off the map – which is laughable, I might add. Then let Sasuke kill him. Think of it as putting Itachi out of his misery."

In the beginning she thought Itachi was indifferent towards everything and everyone. He wandered the halls of Midori manor like the ghost of a warden, stern and passionless. Yet when he showed her fragile instances of kindness, it seemed to flow so naturally, and just as it flowed naturally it would burrow back into and behind his hard exterior.

A dark man armed with a more than intimidating stare, like anyone, Kanna at first judged Itachi by appearance. Any preconceptions were born from word of mouth or the text in a bingo book. But none of it ever helped her understand him on a deeper level. No matter how hard she attempted to communicate, most likely coming off as obnoxious in the process, Itachi remained as tightly sealed as a rusted steel hatch. But there were just things that didn't add up. Every member of Akatsuki at one point or another, including herself, gave way to violent outbursts and petty grudges. All except Itachi who hands down was the most polite and passive. He was neither blood thirsty nor foul and his infamous crimes didn't fit this sort of character.

For such a quiet man there had to be a storm somewhere inside him, blowing amuck in his heart. Behind Itachi's mask, louder than the legends or gossip, he was a troubled soul. But Kanna never would have thought his mysterious troubles would drive him to what she now suspected.

"H-he wouldn't…no…" her eyes widened in a terrified realization.

Deidara got to his feet now and dusted himself off. He wasn't sure what was going on in Kanna's head, but as soon as he looked up she was gone.

* * *

A considerable distance from Deidara and Kanna's disagreement and an hour so later, another cloaked figure traveled the feral countryside unbothered. This being cast a long steady shadow and was as a shadow, yet stealthier than all others. With silent steps and by skill a hushed breath, he gracefully maneuvered the clearest path rather than forcing himself onto the landscape. Itachi never lumbered or trudged, no, he swept the earth with his cloak and was no more traceable afterwards than a lonely gust of passing wind.

Above his handsome head, bare without an Akatsuki sugegasa, sunset's yolky orange had bled out, leaving the sky a dry starless indigo. In place of the sun was now a yellow candle-wax moon. Her tainted rays pierced through the overhanging interwoven branches, splotching his dark figure as if she were a midnight sun. Traveling tonight should have been good. In fact it would have been clear, boring and uneventful from how thoroughly he planned with the distance and the masking of his presence during Sasuke's second battle with the Akatsuki. However some people just had a real talent for complicating even the most immaculate plans.

A path that had once been flat became a deep slope he ascended without shedding even the smallest bead of sweat. Somewhere this mountain would peak and he would meet it, from there he'd be able to pin-point the town Kisame waited in. There in that town they would go over their next operation, keeping in mind that Kanna and Toshio failed to negate a possible hindrance to their work. Eyes firmly set on the oncoming path, Itachi came to a sudden stop and his gaze narrowed with more than a sense of suspicion. The woods had gone eerily quiet as someone besides him skulked in the deep.

"Tell me," he sighed in profound disappointment. "How is you left arm?"

Itachi had not even turned around to face the one who trailed his footsteps. Her presence, her chakra and her scent he knew well enough that even when she tried to hide all those things, she failed. As if she had been standing behind him all along and only verbal acknowledgment made her visible; Kanna stood amongst the impenetrable cover of trees.

"Good, I suppose," sounding a bit winded, she curled her digits into a tight fist, testing the ease of the joints. "My kekkei genkai wouldn't be much to brag about if I couldn't grow a limb back. But it does take a sufficient amount of chakra and time, as I'm sure you've guessed. Hurts an awful lot too, if you're wondering."

"So stubborn, body and mind," Itachi leant a graceful hand up in an attempt to rub out a throbbing tension now in his right temple, a particular pain only she could inflict. "What exactly do I owe this most unfortunate, particularly unwanted visit? Please, be considerate of my time since I do not have an abundance of it to spare for trivial matters."

He didn't even bother to turn and look her in the eye, Itachi withheld sharingan solely for the oncoming path, and yet at this very moment standing behind him barely acknowledged, the thought of their light being extinguished though seemingly impossible, hurt more than any cold shoulder, fist, or blade ever could.

"_I won't deny that I don't deserve any of your hostility. But this is for your own good. There are things in motion that you do not understand…things that when they come to pass will only hurt you. Kanna, I'll only end up hurting you-"_

Those words...

Those damn words.

Ever since he uttered that riddle in Shunran, every syllable, every vowel haunted her in both the waking world and dream world. In the beginning the words made very little sense beyond the obvious: that Itachi and her could not be together. Within those meant-to-be parting words were the reasons why and he had purposely muddied them. Yet ironically thanks to Deidara, Kanna was seeing things much more clearly.

"I know what you're planning, Itachi," she held tight to her composure, "And I'm not about to let you go through with it."

A subtle curiosity made him finally turn to face Kanna and allowed her to focus on his expression, and what she saw was startling. It was as if Itachi had aged years from their last face-to-face encounter. His eyes and cheeks were sunken, mouth now a sallow line, and the tear troughs that once brought character told of illness in their dark accents.

"Always trying to figure me out," he softly observed, shaking his head. "But you're never any closer than the night we met. Stop wasting your time Kanna. There is nothing to figure out anymore."

Still taken aback by his exhausted exterior, she didn't speak right away. Kanna just stared for a while, confused how someone so impressive, so strong, could look so fragile. Something was very wrong and she sensed it from him, from everywhere. Tragedy felt at hand.

"Tell me the truth," Kanna defied the distance to offer an open hand of understanding to him.

Briefly glancing down at her small hand from afar, sharingan shot back up with their fierce refusal. "Truth…what truth? There is nothing to tell and nothing to tell especially to you."

She bitterly retracted her hand, "you really do piss me off more often than not."

"Yet that never totally dissuades your company," he coldly pointed out. "Flowers know their time to wilt and recede into the earth. However your persistency rivals that of the peskiest thistle."

A tremor worked its way up and down her fatigued body. Not from recent battle but from the struggle to keep a manner he preferred of her. "Itachi, I know you're hiding something so just tell me the truth. That's all I want," she softly persisted.

At first the Uchiha just pursed his lips and stared. When it appeared he had come to a conclusion, he revealed that conclusion to be turning his back to Kanna yet again in means to bring an end to their fruitless conversation. "Like I said and to which you refuse to listen: there is nothing more to say."

"YOU'RE A LIAR!" she loudly burst with accusation. "We've been over this once before, haven't we? All the complicated riddles and how you know more about me than I know of you. Itachi, regardless of what we've done, we're still friends! Friends trust each other and I trust you, but…but you don't even trust me enough to say what's really bothering you – that hurts!"

Sometimes he was absolutely baffled by Kanna's feelings towards him. He just could not understand how someone like her could possibly find anything of desirable value in his flawed character. Branded an evil soul to avoid if not expel from this world entirely on sight, people kept their distance from Itachi and yet she only wanted to get closer.

"I never said I did not trust you," he evenly corrected. "But I did mention once before that I would only end up hurting you. Try to listen more carefully when someone speaks directly to you, especially if it considers your wellbeing."

"Why do you always insist on treating me as if I'm a child?" her heart-shaped face flushed an angry red. "If you refuse to say the truth, then at least explain how the hell your death is going to solve anything at all!"

Everything had suddenly come to a screeching halt, maybe even the very blood in Itachi's veins. For the very first time since they had met, Haru Kanna witnessed sheer utter surprise widen Itachi's heavily lashed eyes and stop him cold in his tracks.

"That's what you're planning, right?" her tone and stare lowered despairingly. "You're going to fight Sasuke and you are going to let him kill you. When you had told me there were things in motion I couldn't understand, you meant Sasuke's revenge. When you told me there were things that would come to pass, that you would only hurt me, you meant your death. Itachi your death would hurt me. So before anything more could happen between us, you started to distance yourself."

Somewhere along the way Kanna had found a loose thread. A few harmless pulls were forgivable and they were even rewarded by mere glimpses of his true character. But this final pull had a startling effect. Itachi began to unravel neck up. Sharingan had lost all focus as if they were now staring right through her and trees beyond. His stern expression had given way until all together it wilted in a despair that was so great it was able to project itself on even Kanna, who feared that she had at last gone too far.

"Itachi – I…?"

Back halfway turned, a meager and quickly crumbling defense, Itachi drew up a heavy hand to stare at his worn palms in reflection on a miserable life. With these hands he once cradled Sasuke as an infant, promising to protect him. With these hands years later he dealt death to his entire family, instilling hatred in his little brother. With these very same hands Itachi touched Kanna and found a desperate hope that he'd never have to hurt her too. How foolish of him to ever hope. After all, he was only capable of hurting those he cared for the most.

The silence confirmed her awful suspicion. For the very first time Kanna had actually figured out something about Itachi. She imagined elation from doing so and yet having solved this riddle, she didn't feel good at all. Kanna felt awful and now only wished she were absolutely positively wrong about it all.

"Wh-why would you believe letting your life end is any sort of solution?" she asked in breathless confusion.

"Because I betrayed those closest to me," he answered in a voice stripped of strength. He too even seemed surprised by the weakness in his own tone. "One by one I killed them all without even the slightest hesitance."

There was no way Kanna could or would pretend to understand the magnitude of his pain. But it coldly dawned on her that she did understand the crippling effects of hopelessness.

"Regret is a heavy burden, but not something to die over," she delicately tried to reason.

"No, you misunderstand," Itachi's head tilted back but there was no light to turn to, just the black twisted canopy. "I do not regret my actions. In fact if I were given the mission twice, I'd do it again the same exact way. But one who feels no regret for such evil doesn't deserve to exist. I am a traitor. There is nothing good to come of my existence anymore. The only good that will come is from my destruction."

In disbelief, unable to speak standing alone in the eerie dark wood with Itachi, she found herself wondering if this was all a dream or just a horrible nightmare. Maybe after her battle with Sasuke, she had fainted due to blood loss or pure shock of losing a limb. Or maybe she just finally fell off one of Deidara's sculptures, tumbled to the earth and smacked her head on a rock, thus this was all a painful stupor. Kanna was so willing to deny reality all around her in hopes that this was an illusion.

"Th-this isn't real. It can't be," the young kunoichi muttered, unable to feel her lips move but able to feel her stomach sink. "What you're saying, what you're planning – it's not true!"

"But it is," he affirmed in a distant whisper. "Kanna, this is the reality of things. I am a monster, an evil person. The merciful man you dared to believe I was is no more than an illusion concocted by our individual loneliness and our ill-fated romance. If that's what you want to call it, an ill-fated romance."

"No, you're wrong…and you're still lying!"

He lowered his clouding gaze to watch Kanna walk towards him.

"Itachi, you're not an evil person. An evil person wouldn't have bothered to do the things you did for my little brother and I. Please I beg you, don't think your kindness went unnoticed and didn't count for anything. Because I –"

If it weren't for Uchiha Itachi, she and Kouji would have been killed by the Akatsuki a long time ago. Kanna certainly would not be here right now in good health without the given chances and helpful though hurtful advice. Despite their harsh situation, Itachi had become her first real friend and lover. Now the idea of his death was instilling an incredible dread in place of the sure emptiness he'd leave in her being if he were to die.

Tears were threatening to spill; they stung like needles and mercilessly welled to drown the world in a dark blur. Bravely, maybe even foolishly she fought them back as her hands reached out to touch Itachi's back. Feeling his mortal breath expand his broad shoulders, the warm tears forcibly silenced by sheer will made her voice hoarse. "Because I meant every thanks and I really, _truly_appreciate everything you did for us. So please don't go off to just die!"

Sympathy had been the reason why he helped the Haru siblings, because like so many including his own clan, they were the victims of their nation's harsh rejection. Kanna and Kouji didn't deserve to go on living the way they had, unfortunately Akatsuki wasn't much better, but it was better than sitting around waiting for the late yondaime Tsuchikage to finish them off. Maybe there was more to it…maybe he had tried to do something right in hopes to ease some of his own suffering?

"Where's your hope, Itachi?" her fingertips tightly curled against his sleeve. "Back in Amegakure, you asked me where was mine. There is always hope, even for shinobi like us. Can't you just…" her heart both fluttered and ached, "just runaway with me? We can go somewhere – anywhere! It doesn't matter where, just far away from our pasts and all the bloodshed that's on the horizon!"

"…," a heavy breath expelled as his eyes fluttered shut, daring to dream.

Such an offer bred such incredible possibilities, how warm those possibilities were and could continue to be if only things were different. In the instant her words sank in, his lips upturned to the faintest bittersweet smile, however forcibly short-lived it was. What Kanna offered could never be a reality for them, just a dream far out of their reach. He marked himself for death and the shinobi-world was in peril. No matter which direction they would look, misery would be there first.

"You are so blatantly selfish," Itachi darkly muttered through clenched teeth.

Kanna pulled back to gawk at his profile and she could swear that her heart stopped mid-beat. "Wha-what did you say?"

"I said," he coldly shrugged her off to speak more loudly. "You're so blatantly selfish Haru Kanna with your annoying insistence to interfere. Children like you who have been raised as bigots by their clan are so narrow minded and lost without your name, so now you cling to whatever and whoever you can. You are a spoiled brat who only cares about what you want and what you need!"

Taken aback by this sudden uncharacteristic display of anger, she shuffled back and stared wide eyed as everything he had just said sank into her like jagged glass. Kanna hardly knew Itachi even possessed a tone beyond composed, sharp eloquence. "How dare you? Now you're just trying to make me hate you! I did not come all this way for myself. I did not stay up every night since Shunran thinking about myself. Th-This is about _you_!"

Teeth still tightly grit behind his lips, Itachi's red glare grew intense. "Lies. Nothing but selfish and stupid lies that you have used to effectively convince yourself that the reasons you're here are noble! Do you even care how I suffer every day? I welcome death. I came to terms with it long before I was assigned to your side. So quit this charade of selflessness. I don't want or need your help, Kanna. Now get out of here. Let go of me. I won't be held here by your meaningless infatuation!"

To have her sincerity not only questioned but deemed a complete lie was absolutely awful. "If you don't want to be with me, then that's fine. Be forever by yourself or find someone better, I'm sure you could," something cold slipped down the front of her forearm to her hand where she grasped it tightly. "But there is no way I am going to let you walk away from here if you're only going to walk off to your death."

Peering down to her hand, he saw she clenched the handle of a kunai. Struck again by this young woman's devotion, Itachi's scowl could only deepen. "Why are you doing this? Why do you bother to waste hope on the likes of me?"

Bringing the kunai up, it streaked the dark and came to an aligned point. Determined brown eyes traveled along the length of her arm and the blade's narrow edge sight, Itachi at the end as her target. "Cause at one time you did the exact same for me."

They stood facing one another in the woodsy dark, quiet as the air uncomfortably shifted all around them. Itachi now understood that Kanna meant she wasn't about to let him pass, at least not without force. The last time she turned a weapon on him was in Midori manor and it wasn't a weapon at all, just the sharp end of a broken broomstick. He couldn't believe that they came to this point together.

"Humph, bold words for someone who was not even able to best my younger brother," from the part in his cloak, Itachi took his arm that had been resting between the folds and slipped it back down into its sleeve. "Reconsider, do not force my hand."

Oh Kanna had considered a lot what she was about to do. It was more than foolish – more than stupid to go through with this plan. But it was all she had, and all she needed to do was just stop him.

"It's too late, because you've already forced my hand –"

Dirt and leaves all too suddenly took to the air, but it wasn't Kanna who made the very first move, she had failed at commanding it so Itachi seized the opportunity. He made a wide sweep with his own kunai, forcing Kanna to skid back and hurriedly duck rather than dare to clash blades and fumble in her shock. Effectively avoiding the first assault, she dropped down to a crouch and swept her right leg across the ground and under his feet, forcing Itachi to jump and rebound. Effortlessly did he tumble over her and while airborne struck out a hand, nabbing Kanna by the back of her cloak's collar.

Yanked to an awkward upright stance once the Uchiha touched down, she backed up and dove into the Akatsuki cloak to wiggle free, not about to give him the opportunity to throw her. Seeing Kanna attempt to escape, he countered by wrapping the cloth around his hand in means to keep her tangled up. But with the material pulled tight, her kunai pierced and she sliced her way free. With the shredded remains still wrapped around his hand, Itachi swatted at the kunoichi with the loose end hoping to disarm her. But each time the black cloth reached out, he brought it back a little less than it was before.

Tiny torn and shredded bits of it were floating towards the ground, unable to land while their feet kicked up a complicated air current amidst their fray of kicks and punches.

"I'm not letting you leave these woods without a sane resolve!" Kanna swiftly reached out for her cloak's ends, bound it around her wrist, dug her heels into the ground and with great strength yanked the slack, bringing Itachi in where a wound up fist cannoned through the cloak to whop him right on the face.

Such a force behind her fist, the cloak that bound their hands together by the wrists tore as if paper as Itachi's body rocketed off into the trunk of a lucky red pine. Tremors from the impact shook the entire tree and needles with bark rained down onto his head.

"Huf…huf," standing inside their cloud of dust, Kanna no longer was shrouded by Akatsuki's cloak. "I mean it, even if I have to beat that resolve into you with my own fists or a broken branch, Uchiha Itachi!"

He wasn't entirely surprised that her taijutsu and more importantly stamina were greater than his. Clearly by her kekkei genkai to instantaneously heal and regenerate, Kanna and her clan were made for close range combat. What did surprise him was how she looked now, standing there undeniably a kunoichi, strong and cunning enough to join the likes of the Akatsuki. No longer domesticated, her body lost that soft pudginess to it. She was now lean and dangerous, her feminine muscle structure tense beneath pale skin.

"Impressive," body slumping forward, blood dribbled down Itachi's chin as loose strands came forward to veil sharingan. "Honestly, I expected you to pull that punch. But you've come a long way from slapping me across the face and using the sharp end of a broomstick. However, one thing hasn't changed."

"And what exactly is that?" Kanna panted, wiping sweat from her brow.

A weak smirk curled the ends of Itachi's sallow, blood dripping mouth, "your eyes."

In that instant his entire body burst into winged-shadow, spilling a noisy murder into the air. Their massive cloud engulfed Kanna, forcing her to shield her already sore puffy eyes from their spiny feet. Stumbling back a safe distance, she watched the demonic birds get swallowed up by the surrounding black, their ominous crows echoed long after.

"Wha-what was that? A genjutsu? Some sort of clone?" seemingly left alone with her frantic muttering, she warily stepped in a circle surveying the surrounding dark.

Within and beyond the Akatsuki, Itachi's genjutsu abilities were unmatched. So clearly she was at a major disadvantage, favoring physical attacks. There was also the fact he possessed sharingan, making her ninjutsu potential weapons against herself. Fully knowing she was in over her head, nothing or no one was going to stop Kanna from trying to stop Itachi.

Sasuke's speed was incredible, so naturally Itachi's speed was much more than that. By the time she heard the waft of his Akatsuki cloak, he was an inch from her face and their kunai had finally clashed. Steel edges both skillfully sharpened were grinding against the other, flaking sparks this way and that.

"You can't win," he warned in that callous tone of voice.

A shadow clone emerged from the dark to prove in fact that she had no chance. Wrapping an arm around the front of Kanna's throat, it seized her free hand in that same moment and fought her struggle. Short of breath and forced to drop her kunai, she twisted the shadow clone's hand back and rolled its form over her shoulder, throwing the clone clean off her back towards Itachi's real physical self. But before the clone could clash with its maker, balls of flame destroyed it and hurled their way through at Kanna. An intense shockwave followed soon after, not only had he destroyed the clone, but he had also set it off.

Blasted back by the shockwave, she nabbed a random branch to pull herself behind the safety of a tree trunk and weave signs freely.

Itachi stood in the open, waiting for the dust and smoke to clear. He had no intentions of actually fighting Kanna, but he would defend himself and at the same time try to find a way out of this situation. When the earth began to rumble, he recalled her battle with Sasuke. He knew this next jutsu was meant to distract him, to keep sharingan off her body's movements. A very smart and effective move, if only he had not seen it once before.

As predicted, thick thorny vines erupted from the earth and with lightning speed whipped and slithered through the trees in pursuit of him. As he had no intentions of fighting his former lover, he also had no intentions of being caught. Weaving a complicated blur of hand signs, just as Kanna barely joined the fray, Itachi breathed a massive fireball igniting her ninjutsu. The burning vines twisted in frantic agony, their swine-like squeals muffled beneath the earth as they spread embers. Soon every tree and blade of grass that surrounded them was engulfed in flame.

The heat was intense and no longer did the canopy have the strength to block out the moon. Thick billows of heat swirling black smoke rose to the sky and amidst the cloudy veil Kanna's face was slick with sweat. Hair caught in the fire's gale, she clapped her hands together and began to form seals uncommon for her arsenal. Both water and earth chakras were combined to perform Flora release so naturally Kanna could utilize them individually. "Water style: Rivers tap," she managed to choke out.

Beneath the already cracked and crumbling surface of the earth, a complicated network of underground rivers coiled for miles and like cold multiple geysers, they were drawn up by her chakra and spewed stories skyward. Massive droplets raining down extinguished trees, doused ferns, and saturated the ground for her next jutsu.

Tilting his head down to shield his eyes from the spray, Itachi watched the water level rise and ground grow swollen. In feet of mud, he saw it begin to gather and gather until it took the form of a snake-bodied dragon harboring yellow lit eyes whose ominous glare grew fierce before setting off in his direction.

"Water style and earth style," he softly spoke to himself as sharingan's deep pools of red widened in their careful calculation.

Kanna's earth style proved to be indiscriminate, tearing open the earth and ripping back charred trees in pursuit of him and while also opening up their battlefield to reveal they were atop the steep mountain's peak, only surrounded by open air. To counteract her ninjutsu, his next hand signs summoned an exact copy of her mud dragon and they clashed by their necks. Mud shot in every direction, not just in clumps but in mounds that covered the ground and splotched their clothes.

Itachi skid back to avoid a spray of shuriken, and stepping deep into the scattered mud, realized it wasn't of normal consistency. This mud was thick, hardening quicker than any plaster or cement. But that wasn't the problem. The real problem was what effortlessly slithered beneath.

"You're way too fast for any of my plants to catch," Kanna emerged from the rubble of their ninjutsu clash, covered in mud waist down and with a minor limp. "So I needed a way to slow you down."

He continued to struggle, but his feet only dragged as what crept beneath the bubbling surface drew closer.

"Behind that tree I cast two Earth Style ninjutsu," the kunoichi continued. "But I only allowed you to see one, knowing you would use your sharingan to copy. So rather than you just simply canceling out my ninjutsu, you helped spread my Earth Style: Bog Paste."

As soon as Itachi struggled to make one more step, twisted grasses broke through the mud's surface and lassoed him by the wrists and ankles. The Uchiha's body tensed up, pulling on the restraints but ultimately gave in, slumping forward to gaze at Kanna through a veil of dark hair.

"A Water style, two Earth Style, and of course grass style," Itachi all too calmly listed. "One after the other when you've also regenerated an arm and fought a previous battle. That is quite a bit of expended chakra, Kanna."

"How can you be so calm?" she angrily questioned, walking up to him unbothered by what stirred below. "Have you been preparing yourself for death for that long?"

Avoiding her gaze now, he sighed softly. "Shinobi face everyday knowing it could very well be their last. What difference is it that I've chosen when to die?"

"The difference is that you're just giving up and you're better than that, Itachi!"

"_Giving up?"_he thought to himself.

Itachi had never exactly seen his fate that way. It had always seemed like the proper way to end things; letting Sasuke get his revenge, allowing his little brother be a hero in the eyes of Konoha. Itachi's death would be justice if there ever was any. But was he really just giving up? Perhaps, but no one knew the agony he forced himself to endure every day.

Staring at the kunoichi's booted feet, the shadows that stretched across this now gaping peak were beginning to recede and a light mist was eerily moving in.

"Dawn will arrive soon," Itachi brought his graceful, seemingly defeated head back up. "I'm tired of this game, Kanna."

"Well don't bother to struggle," she insisted through grit. "I'm sure you're aware by now that these grasses I've bound you with are sapping your chakra. Soon you won't be able to resist and we'll talk about this rationally."

"I'm…moved by your determination to stop me, out of what might be pure kindness you believe I deserve. But do you honestly think that capturing me would be so easy?" He watched the color drain from her face.

"What do you mean by that?" There was a sudden alarming tightness around her ankles and wrists. "No. No you couldn't have…I was careful!"

"Apparently…" the image of Itachi bound in her jutsu became transparent until it completely faded. "Not careful enough."

Haru Kanna had never caught him in her jutsu. The only person she managed to catch and sap chakra from with her ninjutsu was herself. Itachi stood in front of her bound form as she struggled in utter disbelief, eyes blinking rapidly to grasp just what happened.

"H-how long," she demanded. "How long have you had me in your genjutsu?"

"From the very beginning," he softly answered, watching her body quiver as her jutsu continued to sap her own chakra. "It was almost too easy."

Kanna fiercely bit down onto her bottom lip as she glared towards Itachi's feet, shaking her head back and forth. "I can't believe this…I can't believe you. H-how could you…how can you settle for such an end? I thought you were supposed to be a genius! I thought you were supposed to be unbeatable! But you're just…you're just an idiot whose giving up!"

Rather than defend himself and rather than silence Kanna, Itachi allowed her to go on questioning his final decision. All the while listening and watching through heavy lashes, feeling the unbearable pain of another bond about to be torn apart. He had predicted that she would find the right moment to finally break her ninjutsu and make another attempt at capturing him. When she actually did so, he swatted her kunai wielding fist aside and grabbed her by the arms. Forcefully Itachi shoved Kanna's body back up against a neighboring pine, knocking the wind straight out of her lungs. Desperately did she gasp for air wide eyed and wild, trying to claw at him even though her arms were stiff in his grip.

"Do you not see that your affections for me make no sense?" whispered Itachi, coming forward to press his solid body up against her, muffling an already dying struggle. "Kanna when I look at you, when I hear you, and when I feel you, it's so obvious how clouded your vision has become. Reality and what was an illusion, they've blended together in your sight. Now I think it would be best if you would look into my eyes for the truth."

"I would have done it – I would have killed him!" she suddenly yelled into Itachi's face, making a swipe at him.

"Who would you have killed?" he asked, regaining control of Kanna's arm.

"Sasuke! I would have killed Sasuke! But…but I didn't because I knew you didn't want that," Her body shook, unable to resist for much longer. "He's alive only because you want him to be; because he's your younger brother."

Despite the situation, this had been the closest they've been to each other in what felt like way too long. The press of Itachi's warm body against her own had Kanna's heart beating like a hummingbird's. Color that had drained from her face moments ago, once again flushed her cheeks an incredible shade of pink. But the emotions weren't right, she was scared for him and now scared of him once he mentioned her looking into his eyes, eyes that right now were glazed over in that familiar despair.

"Please," there was gravel in her voice. "There has to be another way. We'll figure it out together, we'll -?"

"Agony…that's what I wake to every morning and fall asleep to every night. Never stops. It never ceases to remind me of what I've done and what I've become. Not even you could understand what I go through," Itachi took Kanna by the chin, forcing her head straight. "Look at me."

"N-no," she stuttered in protest, trying to turn her head to the farthest left. "I won't!"

She knew he'd glamour her. She knew he would hypnotize her to sleep and when she woke he would be far too gone for her to follow.

For a few more moments Itachi tried to grab Kanna's gaze, but she just held her eyes shut tight. A large part of him would miss this, their bickering and quarreling. That was when everything felt very real, as real as skin. Inhaling her floral smell for most likely the last time, Itachi's head positioned to the side as he came forward to put his mouth to hers.

She felt the warmth and softness of his lips, but only after a waft of pleasantly fragrant breath. Itachi's kisses were so delicate, soft and they filled her with so many emotions that she could not even begin to understand; Itachi was overwhelming.

Beckoned by his passionate kiss, Kanna's brown starry eyes began to flutter open. But when they did, sharingan had been waiting.

"Mmf!" alarmed, she could not part their mouths nor close her eyes.

Itachi's sharingan were now like nothing she had ever seen before. All three tomoe in each eye had grown large, linking each other as they spiraled outward like a warped tri-pointed shuriken. Their gaze suddenly became intense, focusing on the fear in Kanna's eyes as she watched their lonely mountain change.

The sky had gone blood red as the clouds that had once been sailing north, were sucked backward, rushing over a looming ruby moon in the distance. All trees, all mud had vanished and Kanna found a village forming around her. There was a single road flanked on both sides by houses, shops, power lines, and lanterns. At first she couldn't make out her surroundings, but when she saw the white picket fences and barrels of flowers, Kanna realized to her right was her clan's old compound. To her left however an unfamiliar scene was. There had been no bread shop like this in her clan compound, nor had there been a general store of this large proportion.

"I'm sure you can recognize your own family compound," Itachi's calm, eloquent voice seemed to project from everywhere and yet he was nowhere to be seen.

"Wh-what is this?" looking down at herself, Kanna found she too was caught in the gray scale, all her colors inverted. "Itachi, where am I?"

"This is the world Mangekyo sharingan can create. This is the Tsukuyomi and within it I control time, space, even physical mass," he echoed. "And with it I will show you the truth."

Standing on a phantom road unable to move, she tried her hardest to will the genjutsu away. It didn't work and when her eyes opened she was still standing still but this time not alone. People drained of their color were walking the street, stopping to look in blacked-out windows, entering shops, buying bread. They didn't seem to notice Kanna at all; they just went on about their business. The unfamiliar side of the road, the left side, she began to realize why it was unfamiliar to her right. The people walking, buying bread all had one thing in common, they wore the Uchiha crest.

"Yes, that bakery was owned by my uncle Uchiha Teyaki and his wife Uruchi," finally emerging, Itachi eased behind Kanna to lay a gentle hand on her shoulder. "We have similarities you and I, but really it's the slaughter of our clans that is so similar. Just watch."

Kanna looked back to the road where their pasts laid side-by-side, coursing with people who acted as if they were still amongst the living. But suddenly the mood changed from idle to violent. Shuriken and kunai sprayed in all direction, dropping bodies as if they were dolls. Like dolls they hit the floor, limp and lifeless. No side was spared, Haru and Uchiha dropped by each other, swam in each other's blood. There were shadows coming in all direction, she knew they were the cause of this sudden slaughter and from that shadow came one, manifesting in the middle of the road. It was a staggering man, coming closer.

Beneath the red moon's light she identified the staggering man by his outfit before his face. "N-niisan?" she breathed, feeling her heart in her throat.

Kyuusai closed in, reaching out towards Kanna who reached for him. As their fingers made to touch, he was stopped mere inches before by a blade that sliced horizontally through his torso as if he were butter. From behind her, Itachi leant a gentle hand to brush aside rebellious strands of hair so nothing could obscure her view of this.

"NIISAN!" she tearfully shrieked as blood splattered all down her front. It was warm and sticky, smelling of copper like all blood did.

In two pieces Kyuusai dropped to the road, littered with bodies from as far as Tsukuyomi allowed her to see. Standing behind where her older brother had been, loomed the Tsuchikage with the katana. He stared at Kanna, those fierce almond-shaped green eyes roused anger and sadness in her– everything had come flooding back. Why would Itachi want her to relive this agony?

Still in front of them, the Tsuchikage stepped forward and flung the blood from his blade out onto the sidewalks quite carelessly. Every step that drew him closer, the urge to run became greater. But his form began to change, becoming shorter, thinner, and more beautiful in the face until it was a younger Itachi who stood in the Tsuchikage's place, wielding the same blood stained katana but in a Konoha ANBU uniform.

"Do you see now, the truth?" said his younger self. "Our similarities stop here Kanna, because I was not a victim of my clan's destruction like you. In this moment forever engraved in our minds, I am not only similar but I am one with him, the Tsuchikage, your father, the one who betrayed his family, who brought ruin to your clan."

"But…but—" she held her head as if it might split down the middle and spill out. "No. No you're not like him!"

The truth came over Kanna like an unstoppable ocean wave, cold and drowning everything she thought she understood everything she thought she felt.

_"He's a lunatic. He's infamous not only for those wicked eyes, but for murdering his entire clan, hmm. Uchiha Itachi slaughtered his family in the dead of night. In an organization of S-rank criminal shinobi, all of us wanted for evil, even you…none of us can touch him. Can anyone really blame that Sasuke kid for wanting revenge on the man who made him an orphan, hmm?"_

Deidara's voice projected outside her mind, echoing down the blood sopped streets…

"_Uchiha Itachi slaughtered his clan. That means he not only killed his uncles, aunts, and cousins in cold blood, but he even dispatched the people who brought him into this world, hmm. What makes you think a man like him wouldn't do the same to someone like you, who is not blood related, or even from the same village?"_

For what felt like an entire day in the Tsukuyomi, Itachi had Kanna relive the moments he showed her. She watched on either side of her, their families slaughtered. It did pain him to have to show her this way, but it was his only solution. It was the only way to make her see the reality of things. A day in the Tsukuyomi was mercy compared to what he could have done, and when Itachi released the young woman from his jutsu, her eyes were wide and unfocused, body trembling as she grasped the front of his cloak to keep from falling.

The once infallible strength of his stoicism had again given way as he gazed upon her fragile state, with Mangekyo and sharingan deactivated. Kanna began to slowly crumble, the fabric of his cloak slipped from her fingers but she managed to tangle her digits in his necklace and as she collapsed to her knees, snapped the chain. Itachi's dark eyes were clouded over by his guilt for having to go so far to make her understand.

Kneeling down in front of the kunoichi who was unable to speak as just a quivering mass of fear and confusion, Itachi slowly reached for her face causing her to instinctively jerk back in alarm. She finally shrank away in fear. He found this both a relief and a sadness all at once.

"I'm not going to hurt you anymore," he softly reassured, slipping his long fingers into her hair and untying the struck through Grass hitai-ate she wore across her forehead.

Once untied, Itachi set it on the ground beside Kanna's left hand, the same hand that tore his chain from his neck and still held to it. Itachi gazed over her face, despaired that the last time he got to look upon her was when she was truly afraid of him. "Forgive me…Kanna," even though she pulled back, Itachi came forward to press his lips to her forehead for one last kiss.

* * *

a/n: So I'd like to thank **Ayla** & **Valerie** for their help & suggestions. Thank you ladies! :]

Also, **Deidara won the 1st poll**. Looks like I'll be doing a Deidara x OC fanfic once this fic comes to an end. **Please check out my latest poll**, since I know a few of you like the fight scenes with Kanna, how about a little girl on girl throwdown? Yes! So please vote :D


	28. blood burden

"_I am Uchiha Madara & I know the truth about Uchiha Itachi." _

_flashback..._

Amegakure's rain was a relentless entity, gushing night and day; loudly never quietly during its never ending, god given mission to wipe everything clean from the streets, except for the buildings themselves and the memories of those soggy inhabitants darting in and out of dimly lit shops all hours of the day. Not once had Kanna left the warm security of Itachi's loft. Even now as she lay in bed beside him during another gray morning, her ears sensitive to the quiet, listened to the erratic pitter patter outside. For the first week it was almost soothing, now however after two weeks, the heavy drops caught in gusts of wind hit the loft's wide glass windows like tiny rebelling fists, making her nervous. Kanna could not hear beyond the rain, her own breath, and heartbeat. They made a loud wall of sound that she strained her ears to hear around for telltale things like footsteps outside the loft door, or a possible window cracking open.

"…," she held her breath, only to hear the whispers of a cold February.

Back towards Itachi, she didn't make any sudden movements. Every night now that she spent beside him was like this, not wanting to make too much noise or too much movement, afraid to disturb her lover who always appeared as if he didn't get enough sleep from the night before. Tucking her hands beneath her cheek now, Kanna stared out the window a little hungry, pensive, and not at all sleepy.

Since coming out of a coma, she had not experienced a single dream or nightmare. Not that she minded at all, it was just really strange. Maybe it was because she just slept more deeply, lulled to sleep by the rain of this village every night. Or maybe it was Itachi, because with him, Kanna had never felt safer. She found it incredible how the most unlikely person in the shinobi world could bring about such a feeling, and could give her hope for an existence outside the ruins of her clan name, outside everything she had so desperately clung to. For that Kanna was forever grateful.

"Akatsuki…I'm an Akatsuki. You're an Akatsuki," she innocently muttered to herself, trying to get used to the idea of being a small part of this organization. She could hardly picture herself in the cloak, let alone being feared by association.

Sudden movements behind Kanna made her stiffen, hoping her silly reciting had not stirred Itachi As she was about to turn over to apologize, a hand reached over her side. In one gentle motion, Kanna was turned onto her back. No clothes to shed since they had done away with them before going to sleep, Itachi's warm, callused hands freely roamed her body beneath the covers, puckering her flesh in sensational chills. Fluttering her eyes closed, she didn't see Itachi bring his body over her, though she did feel him part her legs by the knees and situate between them. Soon that solid, naked weight of his pressed down onto her and she was once again trapped beneath the Uchiha.

Before Itachi's soft lips even touched her awaiting skin, warm wafts of his breath were felt first along with the soft sweep of his loose raven colored hair. Lingering kisses followed and they trailed their way up the valley of her breasts. He didn't seem to notice she kept her eyes closed. From the sheets to his shoulders, her fingertips anxiously curled and when Itachi finally pushed himself inside, her eyes opened with a soft cry. She now watched the ceiling seemingly sway forward and backward, but it was her body, his deep thrusts nudging her up along the mattress. Arms outstretched as he gripped the edges of the mattress on either side of Kanna's head, she watched his body moist from last night's sweat move fluidly between her legs. At first his entire body would tense, but once he brought himself deep, he'd quiver excitedly. She loved to watch Itachi, he was impossibly beautiful.

"Does that feel good?" he huffed warmly into her ear.

Fingernails dragging down his back, her hands rested themselves on his lower back to feel every deep curl of his spine. Unable to put into words how good he felt, she instead captured his mouth with her own, the passions in that kiss the only answer.

Effortlessly Itachi turned Kanna over to fasten her hands to the mattress ends he had revved to the point of bare threads. Bringing himself to his knees, he grabbed her hips and filled her again. No matter how long they did this, it never felt long enough before their bodies called mercy. Slick in her own sweat, arms shaking, Kanna collapsed onto her elbows and buried her face in the pillow, muffling her moans. Itachi kept her hips steady in his grasp as his pelvis smacked against her backside. She could no longer summon the energy to watch him. Instead Kanna relied on feel alone to know he was close. That lean body of his tensed, his movements became urgent and then suddenly in waves of ecstasy he spilled into his exhausted lover again.

For a moment the room was loud with their heavy panting until Itachi's hot and sticky body collapsed alongside Kanna. The racket of the rain had returned and they both laid there listening to it together.

"Did you dream?" Itachi finally spoke, laying flat on his back with hands tucked behind his head. There was a very calm satisfaction about the Uchiha, as if he were getting very used to all this before breakfast.

"No. Not at all," she replied, wiping her eyes and turning to admire Itachi's profile as his coal-black gaze rested on the ceiling. "Is that normal?"

His thin brows arched, "I wonder."

Morning's gray had not changed beyond time itself. Outside it was still dark and dreary, making Kanna want to stay in bed forever if possible, but as long as Itachi stayed with her. "Did you?"

"Did I what?" he softly asked.

Kanna propped up on an elbow. "Did you dream?"

Itachi took a moment, not sure if his dream was significant enough to even bother telling. "I did, and I expect you want me to tell you about it?"

She gave a smile, "of course."

With a simple nod, he shifted to a more comfortable position. "There was a yard of some sort, all covered in fallen plum blossoms. A murder collected along the top of stone walls that surrounded the yard and atop a deck I was eating cabbage." He peered expectantly towards Kanna.

"Cabbage?" she deadpanned. "You were eating…cabbage? Like a whole cabbage or boiled in a bowl?"

"Cooked of course," he openly answered. "Is there something wrong with that too?"

Slowly she sat up and laughed. Sometimes Itachi's intimidating demeanor set you up for a hard fall. In this case, Kanna tripped and came up laughing. "Well no, nothing is wrong with dreaming about eating cabbage. But I tend to think of dreams as deep and symbolic."

"Oh?" Itachi smiled subtly. "Cabbage can be very symbolic."

Cheek in hand, she leant out her other hand out with a hesitance she always had when just about to touch him, as if afraid he might shrug away. Itachi did no such thing though as she gently brushed aside stray strands that by sweat, stuck to his forehead. "Not quite sure how a vegetable could symbolize anything beyond the fact that you just might have been hungry last night."

Appreciating her touch, he continued to smile in that soft way that he did. "Eating cabbage could symbolize the desire to enjoy things others may overlook and not really appreciate in their everyday life. Or else I really should have eaten a bit more yesterday evening."

Only he could put a deep, symbolic spin on cabbage. That's what Kanna thought as her fingers lightly traced his facial features. Starting from his brow bone, it was so softly shaped and yet when he frowned it became such a serious line. From there Kanna's fingertips followed down the bridge of Itachi's nose to his lips that were thin and delicately shaped.

He watched in curiosity as she did this, the look in her eyes as if she were fascinated by every line and freckle. When her fingers came to a stop atop his Adams apple, Itachi took Kanna's hand and held it up to measure. His hands of course were much larger than hers and yet when he carefully laced their fingers, their hands fit faultlessly together.

"By the way," he quickly added. "Good morning."

She smiled realizing that they had not even exchanged a simple good morning, before getting caught up in their desire for one another. "Good morning," she replied.

They laid in bed for another hour or so, just gazing out the windows to Ame. Itachi was the first out of bed. He had been shifting uncomfortably as if sore from resting in the same position for too long. Kanna watched as he slipped naked from the covers and stood to gather his pants. Pulling them up, he didn't bother to button them on his way to the bathroom for a shower. A big part of her wanted to join him, however he had not given invitation and she understood. Everyone deserved their time alone to think and beneath a hot shower was the best time.

Hearing the bathroom door shut, it didn't catch on the lock so fell open to a sliver. She lay in bed staring to that sliver, watching at first light come through it and then steam. Perhaps innocent curiosity or a daring playful side drew Kanna from bed. She pulled on her underclothes and quietly crept towards the bathroom door. Steam continued to billow out so as she put her eye to the sliver, the glass doors of the shower were heavily fogged but she was able to make out Itachi's blurred form. Still smiling as she crouched outside the door watching him tilt his head back to the hot spray, he suddenly stopped and she wondered if he had noticed her.

About to open the door and come clean, Kanna withheld the moment Itachi suddenly heaved forward with a violent cough. Slapping a hand to his mouth as she did the same to silence her shock, he continued to wetly cough and it echoed throughout the bathroom. It was not how loudly it echoed that frightened her. It was when he took his hand from his mouth and pressed it against the glass shower door that she again had to silence her gasp. His hand was bloody and it streaked down the shower door a bright red hand print.

"Ita-Itachi?" she whispered, wide-eyed.

Suddenly he turned the shower nozzles in and opened the glass doors. Not sure what she just saw, Kanna hurriedly shuffled back away from the bathroom door to grab an empty glass on his bedside table. Itachi emerged from the bathroom, seemingly fine but noticed Kanna awkwardly standing in the middle of the room in just her underwear and an empty water glass in her right hand.

"Kanna, what are you doing?" voice a little hoarse, he cleared it.

"Um," she looked to the empty glass in her hand. "I was…I was going to wash this! Yeah, I was going to wash this and make us some coffee."

One towel wrapped around his waist, another was in his hand as he dried his hair. "Oh, well…do you think you could make me some tea instead? My throat hurts a bit. That is, if you don't mind," he gave her a subtle smile.

Mashing her lips together at first, Kanna nodded her head. "Yeah sure, I'll make some tea instead," she watched him walk back into the bathroom and properly shut the door.

* * *

Motionless in defeat beneath crooked trees and twisted branches of her own doing, on a bed of muddy pine needles Kanna lay unconscious only after a mere touch from Tsukuyomi. Unable to greet another cold morning, she missed the moon overhead modestly shrink away into the stewing gray, along with the slow crawl of a mist that buried her unsuspecting self and the earth beneath a wet ghost-like blanket. No man nor beast had noticed her oddly asleep in the middle of nowhere, except for someone who was not man nor beast but an entity all his own. Slowly from the mist he had emerged, steps so light in their approach that his sandals made no prints even in fresh mud. Kanna lay off to the side of a tree's upturned roots as he crouched beside her to carefully place a single index finger beneath her nostrils. For a few seconds he patiently waited until the warmth of her breath sank through his glove.

"Still alive it seems. Truly it is remarkable the amount of mercy you were able to evoke from Itachi. Haru, you must be one hell of a woman," he quietly said.

Within the mist he reached into his cloak's left sleeve to remove a clear vial and an empty glass syringe armed by sterile needle. Unsheathing its sharp hollow point, he stuck the vial's rubber top and sucked the liquid up to the last line of measurement. After a quick flick and clean spurt, he turned the kunoichi's arm over, stuck the needle into her raised vein, and emptied the barrel.

The mysterious man sat back now to tuck away the vial and needle as he rested an arm across a propped knee. He like all the other Akatsuki wore a black cloak adorned by red clouds, except his cloak covered a body armored by plates and bolts. Face beneath an orange, swirl-patterned mask that revealed only a right eye, he watched the cautious mist swirl about their limbs as if it were waiting for the opportune moment to swallow them both whole. The world would not miss him if such happened, in fact the mist would be doing the world and its peace-seeking scum a favor. As for this woman, there was no doubt to him that she would be at least missed by one.

Someone of Kisame's nature was unable to make sense of it, but this man understood that Itachi was not a shallow child and so his fondness for this young woman, though he tried hard to keep it a secret from his former mentor with good reason, went far beyond the exterior. To make sense of it was to make sense of Itachi and there was no doubt that he knew Itachi better than anyone, including better than Itachi's own younger brother.

A bit impatient, he leant over to check the kunoichi's vitals once more, thankfully she began to stir. On her bed of mud and pine needles, Kanna squirmed in what was clear discomfort. Hands thrown to her sides, her fists clenched her own hitai-ate in one and something else in the other. Eyelids flickering, mouth in uneasy expression, when she finally came-to, she jerked up-right with wide wild eyes. The world had suddenly come back to her in full color, no longer inverted shadow with that red phantom moon overhead. Hysterically making sense of her surroundings, she did not notice the man in front of her till he reached out and took her firmly by the arm.

"Kanna," his deep voice called to her frantic mind. "I've administered an injection of adrenaline into your bloodstream in order to speed up the process of your waking –"

Unable to form words just yet, Kanna jumped to her feet, trying to yank her arm back. The man's grip proved too great and like a newborn fawn, her knees buckled and she tumbled back down into the mud that splattered across her lap.

"You're recovering from the mental shock of a formidable genjutsu that Itachi cast," he continued, unfazed by her struggle. "The events of the world you were in have long passed. This is reality. Come back to it."

She heard something about adrenaline having been administered, that might explain why her heart was racing and her muscles twitched uncontrollably. But it was the mention of a formidable genjutsu and Itachi's name that brought back the moments before falling into a nightmare that she could not comeback from on her own. Kanna's struggle died that instant and she rode out the effects of the adrenaline in quiet despair. The man in front of her continued to go unrecognized and when she finally turned to him, from behind a veil of hair she quickly swept out of the way to be sure of what she saw, there was a familiar mask and the unmistakable red of a sharingan.

"To-Tobi?" she squinted in her disbelief, wondering maybe if there was also mud in her eyes. "I thought…I thought you died in Deidara's explosion."

He did not reply right away, instead he calmly reached into his cloak again to remove a pouch and a white capsule from that. Popping the capsule open, he offered her a food pill. "Not only did I survive that explosion, but Tobi was simply an alias I used to infiltrate my own organization to see how well oiled the gears were, also I suppose I just wanted to stretch my legs."

He continued to offer the food pill forward, even though Kanna shook her head. "I'm not hungry."

In fact she was far from it; queasy with a horrible case of vertigo that made even the slightest movements feel like the tilt and sway of a boat on stormy seas. Palms pressed hard into the soil, she tried to steady herself and make sense of how she was still sane after Tsukuyomi, while simultaneously measuring the threat of this man who just cast aside an identity as if it were a scarf.

"Hungry or not, your body is in a delicate state," he took her hand, opened it, and planted the pill in her palm. "Right now you should be taking extra care of yourself. So eat this and stop being stubborn. We have a lot to talk about and very little time."

With great reluctance and awareness that if this man wanted her dead, he could have separated her head from her body as she slept, Kanna managed to swallow the food pill and it almost immediately cured her nausea. She seemed to curl up into herself now; wrapping her arms around her knees, pulling them protectively to her chest, and from over them her eyes struggled to focus on the mask she once thought a twit hid behind.

"You're staring quite intently at me," he acknowledged. "Is it that my eyes instill fear in you? They should after having lost an arm to one of my descendents and then losing your heart, almost along with your mind to another."

"Who are you?" she questioned, too careful and too smart to demand.

"Humph, straight to business I see. I like that," he replied, nodding his head in a very affirming way as he leaned forward against a knee. "I am Uchiha Madara and I know the truth about Uchiha Itachi."

So Kanna had really seen a sharingan behind that mask and it had not just been her beginning to go crazy. The fact that another Uchiha existed was not too difficult to swallow, it was the mention of Itachi's name that had her body curl up even tighter into itself.

Madara sat back, not quite seeing the reaction he thought he would get. "You withdraw," his eyes narrowed in wonder. "I suppose that would be the smartest reaction, considering all he's put you through. Everyone has their limits."

A limit reached and a definite sense of defeat is what she felt. It was more than painfully clear that Itachi's mind was made long before they ever met. Her persistence to try and change his mind was not only stupid, it was selfish. She had pushed him so far that he struck her with an attack that had more than the potential to kill, it drove its victims insane.

As Kanna wilted, Madara's head tilted in intrigue. "So, Itachi's lies have finally gotten to you. He's always been quite the manipulator, if that's what you would like to call him. Manipulator sounds too villainous for someone who lies for the sake of those he cares for most. Perhaps martyr is the better word?"

"Lies?" she weakly muttered in hesitant curiosity. "What…lies?"

"Too many for me to clear up just right now; know this though, I knew Itachi back when he was a mere child, never mere of mind but nonetheless a child. As his mentor, I instilled him with the mastery of our clan's doujutsu. And when he fled Konoha the night of our clan's destruction, I watched him go."

Though Kanna was quiet as the dead, her glazed eyes no different, he knew she was listening.

"I'm sure you've wondered why Itachi tried to keep his relationship with you a secret from the others. The first truth is his efforts were to keep his affections for you a secret from me, in fear that if I ever found out, in wake of his death I would divulge the truth to you about his tragic life. He is a victim in villain's clothing, a man who risks everything for the shinobi world, for his home village of Konoha, for his brother, and now for even you."

"What the hell are you talking about? He struck me down with Tsukuyomi, so what affections could he possibly have for me, and how much truth can your story hold if you can't even get that part right!" her body quivered in anger as she held it close. "I don't know you. I don't trust you –"

"I have no cold, hard evidence to show. So you'll just have to decide whether you believe my tale or not. Think this through however, that whatever affections they were and most undoubtedly still are, they allowed you to live with your sanity intact. Tsukuyomi is no typical genjutsu. With the ability to manipulate a world of pain for hours, days, weeks, months, maybe even years if he's progressed so far - he gave you clear mercy. If not, you would be dead or as mute and dumb as a leek." The severity of Madara's words sank deep and he saw the thirst in her eyes to further understand.

"Only I and three elders within Konoha know the truth about Itachi, and the latter are unlikely to ever speak it. So when Itachi dies as he plans to, his actual mission will disappear into eternal obscurity, which is what he desires. Now tell me, it is your turn to speak: when you're alone with Itachi, does his reputation perceive him? Is he as bloodthirsty as your village's bingo book summed him up to be? Does he relish in the fame of spilling his own parents' blood?"

Kanna could not stand the sensation of being watched by sharingan after being subjected to their power, and so she looked off into the misty distance. "No, at times I believe I'm capable of crueler acts than he."

"I see. Well it is true that he slaughtered the entire Uchiha clan that night and fled Konoha," Madara now intertwined his fingers to rest the chin of his mask atop them. "What your bingo book doesn't tell you is that he was ordered to by Konoha."

From staring aimlessly out into the rolling mountain mist, Kanna's eyes flashed back towards Madara in shock. "Konoha…ordered him? No - no that cannot be."

"Don't sound so surprised. Konoha is no better than any other country, say for instance…Iwa? When they willingly took it upon themselves to execute an entire clan deemed criminal. You see, the Uchiha planned to overthrow the Hokage, a coup d'état. When Konoha officials caught wind of this, to be certain they had to send in a spy to watch the Uchiha clan. That spy was Itachi. Unfortunately the betrayal runs far deeper than that, as Itachi had also been chosen by the head of the coup, his own father, to be a spy while working as an ANBU. In short, Itachi was a double-agent but chose the side of Konoha, since the trauma of living through the Third Great Ninja War, made him into a conflict hating, peace loving man. He always had at the forefront of his mind, the peace and stability of Konoha, irrespective of clan identity. Konoha leaders knew that, and were swift to take advantage of it."

Madara's tale had ensnared her.

"No one, not even you or I could even begin to imagine what he went through emotionally when he heard that his mission was to eradicate his own clan. Itachi was faced with a terrible choice. To raise his hand against fellow clansmen was probably an unbelievable struggle. But if the Uchiha were allowed to revolt, both Konoha and the land of Fire would suffer severely and be open for attack by neighboring lands. That could have easily triggered another Great Ninja War. The self-centered act of the Uchiha clan would have lead to nothing but death and despair to shinobi and innocent people alike. Itachi knew this and so decided in the end, to sacrifice himself in order to snuff out the flame of betrayal and embers of potential war. All of it was planned, from the massacre to living as a hated traitor. Like every mission he has ever been sent on, Itachi performs brilliantly. Of course, as I'm sure you can sympathize in some way, he was unable to kill his younger brother that night. Yet he hides the truth from even him."

Pausing now, Madara allowed Kanna some time to digest his tale. From where he sat, he could see her soft profile, quivering mouth, and dull eyes that welled. A few moments passed and eventually her eyes were unable to hold back the thick tears that silently streaked her dirty cheeks and squeezed the lump in her throat. She could not understand how a village could do such a thing, as to ask a child to kill his own family. Ally or not of Kusa or any other village, Konoha was spoken highly of even if it was in jealous revulsion. To think that they chose an innocent shinobi – a child no less, to use and then cast aside as a murderous traitor. That was absolutely fiendish and the saddest part was…Itachi accepted it?

"So, you believe my story," Madara watched Kanna reach for the trunk of a tree in stayed silence. "Don't try to stand just yet. There is more."

Hand against the rough bark, her fingernails dug in as she continued to try and pull herself up, only to again collapse to her knees, leaving fingernail tracks down the tree trunk. Madara watched as her head slumped between her shoulders and she began to shake with what he first thought was frustration with herself. But when her hand began to emit what chakra she still had, it burned angrily into the tree. If what this man, Madara said was all true, she never really knew Itachi at all.

With the kunoichi once again quiet, he went on as he began to stand. "I have something for you before I go. Make what you will of it. It was acquired some years ago along my journeys. Unfortunately when I heard it was quite promising, I did not also hear it was useless to those not of your clan or those not directly in their favor. Orochimaru was also after this kinjutsu, along with your father. So here is the catalyst for some of your previous grief."

Madara brought himself to full height, casting a tall shadow over Kanna as she reached out to take a scroll bound in a maroon tassel from his open gloved hand. Strung on the tassel was a silver coin, printed onto it was an open lotus, the Haru clan insignia. She thought that she knew the legit reason behind Orochimaru's interest in her bloodline, however not once was a jutsu mentioned.

"The scroll is authentic and not tampered with in anyway. That I promise. I can also promise you that what's inside may come in very useful…" He watched her undo the tassel knot. "A word of warning though: be thorough with your decision. A jutsu is not simply forbidden because it may bring great destruction. A jutsu is also forbidden when it brings harm upon the wielder."

While Kanna continued to undo the scroll, she noticed Madara was taking his leave. "Do you really think I'll just take everything you have told me, along with this scroll and not question your motive?" Her brown eyes narrowed. "Do not take me for a fool. A stranger in the shinobi world just doesn't come to you out of the goodness of their heart, to hand you all the answers without getting something in return."

"If you were a fool, I would not have had the Akatsuki acquire you," Madara chuckled, coming to a standstill. "Simply put, Itachi and you are worth more to me alive than dead. Unfortunately I am unable to intervene for obvious reasons and that is because Itachi does not trust me, and nor should you except for in this instance. You both are valuable."

When the scroll was opened, it revealed itself to be blank and that's when she realized it had to be unsealed in more ways than one. "I'm also not shallow enough to believe I'm valuable enough to keep alive."

Head tilting back, Madara noticed the mist was clearing. "Give it some time and you will understand why I aid you. Sadly I'm needed elsewhere so our conversation must come to an end. Good luck."

At first Madara was there and then he was not. He had vanished just like the mists on this mountain, leaving Kanna to her own devices. Though she did not trust the man who had been hiding within Akatsuki all this time, his story about Itachi felt like truth. The question now, was what to do with the truth and the little time given to her

Slowly rising to her feet, Kanna tied her hitai-ate to her forehead. Something then tumbled from the grasp of her other hand, so light she had not felt it and only barely heard it hit the ground. There by the side of her foot, was Itachi's necklace. "I must have broken it off when he…" Her eyes closed tightly, feeling physically ill with despair.

The time that she and Itachi had shared together when she thought that she knew the sort of man that he was, in fact Kanna knew absolutely nothing. She had no idea of the pain he endured every waking moment, every sleepless night. All this time, he carried a terrible burden on his shoulders. Kanna could not even begin to imagine Itachi's misery, and for not having figured this out on her own, though perhaps impossible to do so, she felt guilty and indeed selfish. How could she protect Itachi from his chosen fate, a fate that could have been avoided had Konoha found other means to deal with the Uchiha clan? Unlike the anger she felt towards Sasuke for chasing Itachi's heels, this new anger was that of disgust towards the Leaf village.

* * *

Atop a mossy rock beneath an oak that was outside an old abandoned mill, Deidara sat watching as a slow stream that barely missed the front of his toes, trickled on by. Kanna had been gone since last night and now as morning turned to afternoon, taking with it the mist, he was reminded that summer was not far off. The morning had been relatively quiet, however just as he was about to dare enjoy it, the girl Kanna had brought along from Sasuke's cell woke up and started to struggle within the mouth of his clay creation. Naturally he had to silence her, but one too many fists to the head might make her useless and he had yet to know the reason why Kanna wanted her brought along. Until then, he would keep her alive.

"So you're just going to sit there, waiting for her to come back?" grumbled Karin, bound in an explosive clay centipede. "I thought you were an Akatsuki, not some loyal dog."

"I don't remember giving you permission to open your mouth, hmm," Deidara glared in the kunoichi's direction. "But to answer your question so you'll hopefully shut the hell up, I'd rather patiently wait here for Kanna, than not be here when she returns. As should you, since it was she who had me bring you along. Since I have no use for a loud mouth and I also like to travel light, I would simply blow you to smithereens before going on my way, hmm."

Karin's thin lips formed a deep scowl because she thought Sasuke and Suigetsu would have come for her by now. From what she could sense, they were actually moving away and that was disturbing, surely without her ability they would walk themselves in circles and never find her. "I'm hungry," she then complained.

"Oh?" his visible sapphire eye narrowed to a sharp shard that glimmered over his shoulder. "I wouldn't give a shit if you were bleeding out where you sat. Now shut up before I shove a rock through your teeth, hmm."

He too was beginning to wonder why on earth he was still waiting for Kanna. She had gone off without explanation. During the night Deidara had felt her chakra along with another. However it was too far to accurately pin point, let alone identify. In the end he decided to allow Kanna a few more hours. Surely after last night's kiss, she would not totally abandon him. So terribly bored though and a little hungry himself, Deidara finally stood up for a proper stretch before reaching into a bag he had unsealed from a traveling scroll to remove a green apple. After a quick look to make sure there was no bruising, he took a kunai to it and began to separate the skin from the flesh. Pacing his way to Karin, who sat on the ground still glaring at him, Deidara began to flick the sticky skins into her hair.

"Can't say I didn't try to feed you, hmm," he heckled.

Karin shook her head but only a few peels came loose. "How dare you!" she shouted in disgust. "When Sasuke comes for me, I'll have him fillet you like a salmon!"

With no more peels to throw, he crouched in front of her. "Is that so, hmm? Well, I sure hope he comes because he and I have some unfinished business to attend to. But by then who is to say you will still be of use?" The centipede that bound her wiggled, tightening around Karin till she gasped. "If he does come, he'll find you in pieces, hmm."

"Pieces or not," a gust of wind suddenly kicked up the wild grasses, forcing Deidara to shield his eyes and Karin to squint. "You won't be doing anything that might jeopardize her life until I'm through with her." Gust having dispersed, there stood Kanna with wet hair and no Akatsuki cloak.

Deidara quickly stood up to lash a pointing finger at his female comrade, "where the hell have you been all night, hmm?"

"Nowhere to brag about," she replied, squeezing the remaining water from her ends. "But thanks for not killing her. As I suspected yesterday, she's come in useful."

Watching Kanna walk over to Karin, the clay master arched a suspicious brow. "How exactly will she be useful?"

She looked down at Karin who turned away "This one is a very capable sensory type, able to read chakras and pin-point a single individual or more over a wide range," Kanna took Karin by the shoulder and brought her to her feet. "Yesterday in the middle of our battle with Sasuke's cell, when I realized we were on the verge of losing, as a last resort I took her with us. By bringing her with us I effectively blinded Sasuke's pursuit. Luckily for her now, I need a heading."

Explanation only leading to more questions, Deidara decided to keep quiet for now and follow after Kanna who shoved their captive in direction of the old mill. As large as it appeared old, the mill was well on its way to becoming one with the forest surroundings. Oak tree branches at some point had broken through the top floor windows and from every one of them including the crushed vents, thick ivy spilled in and out, entangling the crooked building.

Just outside the closed door, Karin came to a halt and with her arms strapped down her front, her free hands jiggled a rusted bronze knob. "It's locked," she grumbled in relief; it had to be absolutely filthy inside the abandoned mill.

Both Kanna and Deidara looked to each other that instant to roll their eyes. It was he who took initiative to effortlessly kick down the mill door. Again Kanna shoved Karin forward, this time through webs that crisscrossed behind the door itself. Within the mill it was dark and dank, poorly lighted by windows so covered in grime that the sun could not filter through. Overhead hung still wooden gears that collected chirping bats and doubled as bridges to the squirrels that raced out hearing their echoing human footsteps.

"Kanna," stepping in cautious of hanging webs, Deidara looked to his comrade. "Where do you exactly need a heading to, hmm?"

Karin also wondered that as Kanna sat her down on an empty barrel. Everywhere the red-headed kunoichi looked, there was reason to cringe. However she knew attempting to escape was out of the question. She read Deidara's file back in Sound. Even if she had not, he made it very clear that if she put a toe out of line, she'd be blown to bloody chunks. However with the other Akatsuki in need of her ability, perhaps there was a little wiggle room after all.

Standing in the broken open doorway, Kanna felt both Deidara and her captive's eyes on her back. "She's going to help me find Itachi before Sasuke does," she calmly answered.

The air instantly became tense as from across the mill floor, Deidara angrily threw his half-eaten apple, nearly hitting their captive upside the head. "You had me wait all night, all morning with this annoying bitch, just so you could come back and ask her where the fuck Itachi ran off to, hmm? Wow Kanna, you sure have some nerve!"

Kanna sighed heavily, that had been about the reaction she thought she'd get from him. "I'm sorry, but you're the only other person I can depend on."

"Depend on? No Kanna, you're _using_ me and I can tell you plan on doing it again – I'm not Toshio, hmm! I'm not going to do all your heavy lifting."

Kanna felt her face grow angrily hot. If Deidara was not willing to help her, time was even more against her. "Wherever Itachi is, Sasuke will definitely follow and so will the nine-tails jinchuriki. Is that reason enough for you to at least go in the same direction that I'll be going?" Her eyes were firm and serious, searching Deidara's face for the slightest inclination that her baited hook was tickling his lip. But before they could come to an agreement, Karin boldly spoke up, forcing both Akatsuki members to turn their glares in her direction.

"I'm not going to tell you anything! Sasuke came to me to help him with his vengeance, so I'm only answering to him. You two might as well fight about some other means to locate your comrade."

Promise of Sasuke and the nine-tails jinchuriki was very sweet bait indeed. However what really hooked his sadistic mind was the golden opportunity to change this girl's mind. Unfortunately in all Deidara's eagerness, he was not quick enough and Kanna made the first move.

"Is that so?" she said, head cocking in cold curiosity. "You're going to forfeit the opportunity to walk out of here unharmed, for the sake of Uchiha Sasuke's revenge?"

Karin defiantly looked on to the Akatsuki. "You won't get spit from me! Sasuke will be here any moment and he'll take care of the both of you, and then kill Itachi."

That was enough. "Unbind her," ordered Kanna.

The clay mastered gawked in question. "Why the hell would you want me to do that? She might try to run, hmm."

"Just do it," Kanna impatiently crossed her arms. "She's not stupid enough to try and run off."

"Yeah?" he snickered while forming a single hand seal. "You weren't dealing with this idiot all night and morning like I was, hmm." The jutsu broke in a puff of smoke, the large centipede that once was wrapped tightly around Karin's middle, fell to the floor no bigger than a pen and slipped between the gaping floorboards.

Karin sat there on the barrel, able for the first time all morning to expand her lungs and ribs with full breaths. Eyes unassumingly on the floor where the deactivated explosive fell, she thought they would drop their guard seeing her reluctance to run. But that instant she found out as she dashed for the hopes of a back door, that she was terribly wrong. Nabbed painfully by the hair, Karin's head was yanked back and shoved punishingly through one of the mucky glass windows.

"Deidara, you were right. I apologize," Kanna forced the lesser kunoichi's face against the jagged remaining glass. "She really was stupid enough to try running."

Back by the barrel, Deidara stood in shock, kunai only half way out of its holster by the time Kanna had got a hold of Sasuke's cell member by the hair and spilled her blood down the window sill. The sight of Kanna's merciless violence was delightful. "Heh, I'm so glad that I decided to stick around after all, hmm!"

"Don't get too excited," warned his female comrade, removing Karin's head from the window. "She'll tell me what I want to hear soon enough."

Kanna tossed Karin to the floor where she clattered loudly onto her side and very gingerly touched her bloody face. "Wh-what the hell is wrong with you?" she shrieked, feeling sharp shards of glass lodged in her cheek-flesh.

"Where is he?" From the shadows Kanna walked into the light her captive's face so graciously let in. "Where is Uchiha Itachi?"

Face stinging, disgusted by the metallic scent of blood, Karin bit down to still her trembling bottom lip. If not for the fear of failing Sasuke and the small chance that they would not kill her since they needed her, Karin would have given in without a moment of hesitance. "I-I'm not going to tell you anything!"

In that instant Karin jumped to her feet, whipping out a kunai armed by an explosive tag from her holster, and threw it straight in Kanna's direction. In what would have been the blast wave, she planned to make her escape. However her captor easily threading the kunai's eye with an index finger mid-flight, flicked it out another window. From outside the explosion shook the rickety old mill, causing termite worn rafters to rain down in chunks. Barely missing a concussion, Karin dashed towards the backdoor. Just as her hand went to reach for its brass knob, she was blitzed. Kanna shoved the blunt heel of her boot into Karin's abdomen, sending her flying back with enough force that her body like a wrecking-ball, slammed straight through one of five pillars supporting the mill's upper floor. It splintered in all direction and Karin rolled through the sharpest pieces.

Still a safe distance away, Deidara resisted the urge to laugh and clap.

Very awkwardly Karin came to her feet gasping. As a sensor meant to be far from the heat of battle, even more so than a medical ninja, hand-to-hand combat was not her forte. So the fact she was faced with an S-rank criminal with formidable taijutsu, left very little room for hope. She watched Kanna pace in her direction and with whatever strength she could muster in her frustration, Karin curled a tight fist and desperately threw it out. "You bitch!" she shouted.

Reaching across their mirrored bodies, Kanna quickly intercepted Karin's punch to take possession of her arm. Squeezing it tightly, she purpled the other kunoichi's fingertips. "Tell me where he is," she firmly demanded. "Or else."

Karin angrily panted through her teeth and purposely pursed her lips for Kanna to see that she would not even utter a word of defiance, let alone Uchiha Itachi's whereabouts.

Patience was not something Kanna had an abundance of. In fact she lacked it and in this case was trying her hardest to forget that. So when she saw Karin's display of loyalty for Sasuke, her eyes narrowed to dangerous slits as her cheeks flushed an angry red. "Do you really think I don't know that you're holding onto the hope that I won't kill you, because I need you?" the female Akatsuki sneered. "If you just so happen to die while I'm beating your face unrecognizable…oops!"

Not even a second after her warning, without even the smallest sense of pity, Kanna whipped Karin's arm around, twisting it till she heard her bone snap. Karin's shriek of pain echoed throughout the abandoned mill but was quickly silenced by the back of Kanna's other hand, as it crisply smacked across her mouth like leather across the broad side of a rock.

"Your time is up and I asked you a question!" the female Akatsuki fiercely hissed.

Frightened by the sudden ruckus, doves and bats leapt from their roosts and flew out the broken windows. Karin had spun off from the force of Kanna's punishing hand and tumbled into the barrels where Deidara sat. He didn't even bother moving, he simply looked down to the redheaded kunoichi sprawled on her back with a split lip and a bloody tooth atop her chin.

"Now if I were in your position, I'd talk, hmm," he delighted in the fear in Karin's eyes as she watched Kanna approach again.

"I-I don't know where he is!" Karin's mouth dribbled blood and saliva. "He must be out my range!"

Coming to a standstill, Kanna glared to her captive's fearful expression in cold consideration. Slowly she lifted her foot just above Karin's leg and just below her knee. "Then try harder!" she seethed, stomping down onto her leg.

"AHHHH!" Feeling both her leg bones snap in halves, Karin tearfully clutched her leg. "You broke it!"

"I gave you the opportunity to walk out of here unharmed, you foolishly refused and I want my answer by any means necessary. I'll break every bone in your body if you don't start talking!" Kanna shouted over her shrieks. "So tell me where he is!"

In such pain, Karin's wide open mouth gasped back tears and left her momentarily unable to speak. Without any room for mercy with Itachi on the line, Kanna stomped Karin's other leg just below the knee, breaking its bones and once again filling the abandoned mill with echoing screams.

"Wow," awed Deidara, scratching his cheek and peering towards Kanna who watched Karin reel in agony. "Not that I ever promote mercy, but are you sure you're interrogating her? Seems more like torture if you ask me, hmm."

His comrade did not immediately reply, she just continued to silently watch the redhead squeal and bleed. It may have looked as if she were fascinated or even enjoying this, when in all actuality she was looking right through her. "By any means necessary," darkly said Kanna with no emotion in her voice as she removed a kunai from its holster.

"Heh," he eyed down at the blade. "If that's the way you like it, hmm."

Walking back to her captive's side, Kanna put her booted foot across her throat and applied pressure. "I'm refraining from breaking your other arm, only so you'll have a hand to make seals with when you use your Mind's Eye of Kagura technique. So, as I am deliberating what other bones to break in your body until then, talk before I decide."

With a boot across her throat slowly applying pressure as moments ticked by, Karin's airway was being squeezed shut like a lawn hose. Unable to move with one arm and both legs broken, she trembled knowing this pain wouldn't stop unless she answered the Akatsuki's question, or else she died. Karin felt the severity in Kanna's threats, her chakra unwavering.

"Okay! Okay!" she wheezed. "Just…just stop hurting me!"

Not a moment after, Kanna lifted her foot off Karin's throat. "Well, answer my question. I'm all out of patience and at this rate if you keep refusing to tell me where Itachi is, then you are of no use to me. And the next thing I'll break will be your neck. Now this is your last chance - talk!" the Akatsuki demanded.

Laying there on her back, hair splayed across her sweaty face, Karin sorely nodded and brought her good arm up to form a hand sign in order to concentrate. When her cherry-red eyes shut, she no longer saw with them but saw with her mind a layout of their corner of the river country. From this abandoned mill, from the Akatsuki's chakra and her own, her range grew larger and larger. Karin sensed Sasuke still moving away with Suigetsu, Jugo no longer with them or even a part of this earth. For the sake of her own life Karin desperately searched for Uchiha Itachi, all the while feeling Kanna's eyes on her, waiting for her heading.

In his boredom, Deidara teetered back and forth on a barrel. "She's taking forever, Kanna. This broad is a waste of time. Just break her neck and be done with it, hmm," he grinned.

"No!" fearfully exclaimed Karin, eyes shut tight. "He's just…he's just further than I initially anticipated. Just give me a few more minutes."

Middle finger through the eye of her kunai, Kanna allowed it to dangle and swing as she granted a bit more time. She could see Karin's eye lids flickering, her lips moving. She could tell that Karin was indeed searching for Itachi and when her eyes opened once again, Kanna knew that she had found him.

"Forty miles directly northeast of here, I sense him," her eyes met with Kanna's.

"Is he moving?" she asked.

The redheaded kunoichi shook her head and rested there on her side. "No. He's…he's still. He's alone also."

"Okay," softly said Kanna, tucking her kunai back into its holster. "That's all I wanted to know."

With that she turned swiftly on her heel and briskly began to walk towards the mill door. Deidara leapt from the barrel and hurried after her, not yet quite sure if he was going to aid her or not. "Wait," he called. "What of the girl, hmm?"

Hearing Deidara, she briefly paused with her back towards him and Karin who still lay unable to walk or even crawl. "Leave her," she coldly replied. "Like she said, her beloved Sasuke will come and rescue her. We wouldn't want to interfere. I at least owe her that."

"N-no!" shouted Karin, wobbling on her good arm. "Please, you can't leave me here! Sasuke isn't coming. He's headed straight towards Itachi!" At first Karin did not want to admit it to herself that Sasuke was moving away. But upon locating Itachi, sensing Sasuke headed straight in that direction, she no longer had any reason to believe he'd bother to come back for her. In the end, he only ever meant to use her.

Arms above his head in a long stretch, Deidara laughed. "How unfortunate for the both of us then, I thought I'd get my chance to really kill that damn brat, hmm."

Just about to walk out the door, leaving Karin to fend for herself with very little to do so with, Kanna came to a sudden stop and grabbed for the door frame.

"Hey, what's the matter?" asked Deidara, leaning in around to get a look at her.

Color drained from Kanna's face, she hurried out the door to throw her head into a neighboring bush and loudly vomited. With nothing really in her stomach except for the food pill Madara had given her, nothing but saliva and stomach acid spilled passed her lips. The taste was foul, saliva clung to her lips and with trembling hands she wiped her mouth and chin. "I'm…I'm fine, just a little sick I suppose," her heart raced because that could not be possible.

Deidara also looked unconvinced but didn't press further. Instead he walked out into the sunlight and Kanna joined him to leave Karin behind in the old abandoned mill, her pleas for help echoing long after they moved out of earshot. The Akatsuki found an area where the trees broke and the spring sunlight could fully bathe them. Kanna stood off by herself as Deidara calmly deliberated what he would do. The promise of Sasuke still and even the nine-tails was still on his mind, but helping Kanna get to Itachi for whatever pressing reason she had, was not quite as alluring.

The Land of Rivers was vast, the quickest way out was of course by air. Kanna thought this as she knelt by the stream, cupped water with both her hands, and washed her mouth out. The taste of vomit gone, she wiped her mouth with the back of her hand and stared to her tired, worn expression in the stream's reflection. "So, what's it going to be; are you or aren't you going to help me?"

"Humph," the clay master sauntered up behind her. "I figure once I'm done with Sasuke and the nine-tails jinchuriki, I'll payback Itachi as well, with interest perhaps. What is that, three birds with one stone, hmm?"

"Do what you want with the other two, but I won't let you lay a single finger on Itachi," face still pale, she slowly stood to fasten a necklace with three metal rings on it, around her neck. "Let's go. Hopefully we'll both get what we want out of this."

Nodding his head in firm agreement, Deidara reached into his left bag of clay and his left hand bit off a clump. It chewed quickly to spit out a little ball, which Deidara kneaded into a bird and then tossed it to the ground. A single hand sign had the clay erupt in a cloud of smoke and from the smoke large, doughy wings extent and flapped. They both jumped atop an eagle molded for two and it leapt from the earth. Once airborne, they headed directly northeast, no words or glances exchanged, their eyes only set on the oncoming sky.

* * *

a/n: So...I rushed this one, if you can't tell. I'm not sure what it is. I'm just so close to finishing that I feel like I'm sprinting towards the finish, despite the fact I still update just as slowly! 30 will be the magic number. Anyway, I had a poll for kunoichi vs. kunoichi & I know a lot of you didn't vote because I forgot to mention it in the last author's note. So I decided (since the current poll was tied the last time I checked), to possibly still include a Kanna vs. Sakura scene in chapter 29?

Tell me what you guys think, because since I'm sprinting towards the end, Kanna vs. Sakura might be a bit of detour. But if you guys would like to read that, I'd be happy to write it! c:

Thanks to all my readers & those who I go to for advice (Ayla, Valerie, Grace, Blaine, Tiff) Thanks!

Check out my profile for news before ya' go!


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